


Sophomores

by timkons



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - High School, Developing Relationship, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, High School, Homophobia, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slice of Life, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23086291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timkons/pseuds/timkons
Summary: Likely derived from folk use of two Greek terms,sophos,meaning, “wise,” andmoros,meaning, “foolish, dull,”sophomoreoriginally probably meant, “a wise moron.”
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 29
Kudos: 205





	Sophomores

High school, Leon is told, is the best time of his life. Everybody tells him it’s going to be the time he remembers most fondly, the kinds of memories he’d like to return to and relive his heyday glories. Movies tell him it’s a time filled with secret parties that last until midnight and booze provided by older siblings and strangers, or it’s a lifetime of hell, spent getting shoved into lockers. For Leon, it’s neither of these things. When he was a dewy-eyed freshman, maybe his life would have had a shot at that narrative, but then his mother uprooted the family and moved them out to The-Middle-of-Nowhere, Smallville, USA. And just like that, Leon has to start life all over again. It’s not exactly the best way to start a sophomore year.

Navigating high school is easy enough; that’s not the problem.Within ten minutes of entering the bright red doors of Galar High, Leon can already tell who belongs to which cliques, and who is going to have relationship drama with who exactly eight months from now. Leon knows how to politely smile at the girls who smile too widely at him, so they don’t get the wrong impression. He knows how to look at guys, so they don’t pick a fight with the newcomer on the very first day. He even knows how to identify the kids who will get picked on, and makes an extra note to befriend them later.

No, it’s not that Leon particularly minds the move. He misses the city, but it’s nothing he can’t get used to. The problem is that it’s his first day as a sophomore, and everybody already knows everybody else. From the way everybody smiles at each other, Leon kind of gets the feeling that everybody’s been friends since kindergarten, and now he’s the one that has to play social catch up.

He sighs as the bell rings and everybody moves like bees in a hive, meticulously organized in their never-colliding chaos. He’ll already be late to his first class at this rate.

“Hey, uh—” And of course Leon’s attempt to ask for help is ignored. The second and third ones too. It’s impossible to get a hold of anybody’s attention, with the way their faces are set forward, like they’re looking through his head, or down at the floor. The only eyes Leon manages to catch are above the crowd of heads, up at a sharp eyes and sharp teeth. Leon’s not a small guy by any means, but this dude makes him feel short. “Um.”

“You’re a new face around here,” the guy says, stopping to stare down at Leon and his backpack. More like, Leon is directly in his way. His eyes look dark and sharp from the shadow of his bandana, and his height certainly doesn’t help his intimidating stance. “You lost?”

“Y-Yeah…” 

“Let me see,” he offers, pocketing the phone he’d been carrying into his oversized hoodie and holding out a hand. Leon nods wordlessly, still staring, and hands over his schedule. This guy must be on the basketball team, with all that height. He’d make a great offensive lineman, if he’s not already on a team. “Pre-algebra? Really?”

Leon snatches his paper with a huff, suddenly embarrassed. “Whatever! I can find it on my own!”

“Calm down, I didn’t say I wouldn’t help you,” Sharp Eyes and Teeth says, pushing Leon around by the shoulder with a laugh. “I got you.”

Sharp Eyes and Teeth hums the entire walk down the hall, and when the second bell rings, Leon knows he’s late too. He doesn’t seem bothered though, and when he stops in front of the gaudy green door that has a Galar High football pennant hanging on it, he stops to draw on the back of Leon’s schedule too. “There’s directions for all your other classes. Try not to get lost, newbie.”

With a flick of his hand, Leon takes his paper, and the guy struts away before Leon gets a chance to thank him. His chest tightens as he watches Sharp Eyes and Teeth’s calves and hamstrings flex as he walks away, and Leon tells himself it’s only because that was a really kind thing to do.

-

Downside: Leon absolutely gets lost on his way to Texts and Composition. 

Upside: Leon rips off a football flyer stapled to a bulletin board. Tryouts are today.

-

By the time lunch rolls around, Leon has a spiral notebook filled with confusing notes about a short story by Kate Chopin and variables that he still doesn’t understand. Navigating the lunchroom in a room full of people that already know each other is always difficult, and as Leon looks for an open spot and smiling faces, he notices Sharp Eyes and Teeth perk up when he passes by. “Hey!”

“Hey,” Leon says back, setting his tray beside his.

Sharp Eyes and Teeth moves his gourmet Mystery Meat around with a plastic fork, and for the first time, Leon’s able to see his canines for real. The glint of them makes him swallow and his throat feel dry. “I take it you didn’t get too lost thanks to my amazing notes?”

“Uh.” Luckily before Leon can confess too much, five other guys slam their trays on the table at the same time and slip into their seats like clockwork. Instantly, Sharp Eyes and Teeth’s focus is everybody but Leon, and he laughs and jokes around wildly with the other guys, who seem close to him. When he’s not looking at them, he’s tapping on his phone, and Leon feels a prickle of annoyance. Leon pokes at his unidentified meat product with a grimace, happy that Sharp Eyes and Teeth bumps shoulders against him every now and then, but sour at how ignored he feels. The bell seems to ring before Leon can even get in a word edgewise.

-

The gourmet Mystery Meat isn’t all that tasty.

-

Leon’s afternoon courses go a lot better; he still gets lost — once, between Nutrition and Geology — but Sharp Eyes and Teeth is easy to spot in a crowd, and leads him to the lab with an easy smile again, assuring him that he’ll get the hang of it. It’s kind of a blur, really, and Leon only has his mind on one thing. He keeps staring at the clock even during his favorite hour of the day, P.E., and finally puts those pre-algebra skills to use, counting down the minutes.

-

As soon as that afternoon bell rings, Leon swings his backpack over a shoulder and hits the floor running toward the field.

-

Not so dewy-eyed but just as excited, Leon arrives at his first football tryouts with a rainbow pin attached to his backpack. When the circle of introductions makes its way to him, he proudly announces to his future team: “My name’s Leon. When I grow up, I want to be the first openly gay quarterback inducted in the NFL Hall of Fame!”

There’s a collectively held breath, followed by a sigh, and Leon knows he’s screwed.

-

Leon makes the team, of course. 

-

“You can be on this team, but you can’t shower with us,” his linebacker upperclassman declares. He used to be the defensive captain, but he’s promoted to offensive captain, now that Leon has replaced their senior quarterback and former offensive captain. 

Leon knows this kind of thing happens. He’s seen it in TV shows and the kinds of ridiculous media that makes all small town high schools look bigoted. In disbelief that this is happening to him so openly, in front of all the team’s nodding heads, he looks to his coach, but Coach won’t even look at him. He quickly realizes it’s this or he doesn’t play football at all. 

“Okay,” Leon croaks, in the smallest voice he’s ever heard himself speak in. 

-

Football teams are supposed to be the crown jewels of high school. The massive locker rooms, gym facilities, and astroturf field that Galar High invests in is proof enough of that. So it’s reasonable that Leon should frown at the dinky, rusty lockers that line the second locker room, which hasn’t been used regularly since the new ones were built two years ago. It smells like there’s mold growing out of the group shower stall - or maybe out of the toilets. In any case, it’s rancid, and Leon pinches his nose, his face immediately scrunching up, as he gingerly drops his duffel bag on a rotting bench.

“Aww, it’s not _that_ bad,” a voice calls out, and Leon immediately snaps to attention. His eyes narrow in on a guy patting his locs as he walks out of the shower stalls, and Leon pieces him together as Sharp Eyes and Teeth from earlier. The familiar face makes Leon relax. Plus, Leon doesn’t miss how he’s wearing flip flops in the shower and sighs relief that he brought his own. “Hey, I remember you! This your first time in our humble abode? You get used to the smell after awhile, really.” 

“It’s awful,” Leon says bluntly, voice warbly and just as pinched as his nose. “How can you stand it?”

“Like I said, you get used to it,” the guy says with an easy-going shrug. He crosses the room as easily as his tone drawls, offering a hand once he’s within reach. “I’m Raihan, by the way. I’m captain of the lacrosse team.”

Leon stares at the offered hand, perhaps two seconds too long, because the guy’s smile starts to drop, but eventually he unpinches his nose to shake it; he’s right, the smell isn’t _that_ bad. “Leon.”

“Well, Leon,” Raihan says, squeezing his hand and heartily shaking it. It feels nice, and Leon doesn’t want to let go. “Everybody’s holding tryouts today, but you’re not one of mine. You make it onto one?”

“Football,” Leon says. “Starting quarterback.”

Raihan’s smile flinches, and even though he’s smiling, his eyes look spooked. Spooked, then angry. For a moment, there’s just the sound of the buzz of the fluorescent lights overhead. “Hang on, you’re not being hazed, are you?” 

“Thought you said this place wasn’t so bad,” Leon teases, gesturing around. 

Though Raihan doesn’t seem convinced, he backs up and gestures to the room with a flourish. “Ha, you’re right about that. Well, I’m done with the showers, so they’re all yours. Welcome to the locker room the lot of us peon teams call home.” 

Though his tone is light, it doesn’t sound like a joke. It doesn’t look like one either, Leon notes, as he looks around with a grimace. Raihan opens a locker that’s filled with sweaty kneepads, a scratched-up helmet, and a well-worn lacrosse stick with what seems like brand-new netting. He changes into his school uniform quicker than Leon has ever seen a teammate get into clothing, and the door shuts behind him with a slam of finality.

-

Leon’s second day at school is just as disastrous as his first, as far as directions go. A few girls flirtily offer to show him the way to his classes, and the football team pointedly ignores him when Leon looks their way, so he ends up flagging down Raihan as he sees him passing in the hall.

“Again?” Raihan asks, tone more amused than annoyed. “You sure get lost easily, don’t you?”

“It’s a curse,” Leon jokes, watching Raihan’s broad shoulders shift the fabric along his back as he leads Leon down the crowded, locker-lined hallways by shouldering everyone out of the way.

-

Leon perfectly remembers his way to Nutrition, but he asks Raihan to lead him anyway.

-

Raihan doesn’t even seem phased on the third day, and by the fourth, he waits by leaning against the brick entrance next to the big, firetruck red double-doors. Leon likes these little slivers of time, when Raihan checks in on how he’s doing, tells him little stories about his lacrosse team or something funny that happened in one of his AP classes. Raihan’s really nice, and Leon appreciates him for it.

-

Football, on the other hand, is grueling. His team and coach seem to be determined to give him extra hard practice compared to everybody else, and Leon keeps meeting their challenges one-by-one. Leon gets the impression that his offensive captain is actually upset with him; during a scrimmage match among the team, his teammates pointedly ignore his calls in the beginning. Eventually he realizes he’d have to plan and execute the plays himself, and he _still_ wins. 

He figured that’d earn him a little bit of respect from his fellow teammates, but they just look at him like he’s some kind of freak.

-

And there’s the locker rooms, of course. They still stink just as badly as the first time he entered, but it’s easy and familiar, in a way. Raihan’s a normal fixture; Leon learns he showers later than the rest of his team because he does extra training — stretching, cardio, or weight lifting — after the rest of his team’s finished for the day. Leon respects him for his tenacity, and his efforts have certainly paid off in those toned, supple muscles of his. 

Sometimes Leon catches various members of other teams — lacrosse, tennis, _golf_ — in the locker room as well. It seems like everybody _but_ the football team is forced to share this dinky space, even doubling up on some of the lockers that smell like socks that haven’t been washed for three seasons in a row. Leon’s fortunate to have a locker of his own, and it might just be him, but it looks more polished than any of the others. 

It’s weird, though. Leon’s noticed whenever he enters the locker, everybody seems to beeline out. They’ll give him a curt, ‘hey, Leon,’ or, ‘nice game,’ but Raihan’s the only one who ever sticks around, the only one to attempt even _talking_ to him.

Then again, Leon’s noticed that everybody seems to avoid Raihan in the locker room too. He supposes that makes sense, though; Raihan likes to take a _lot_ of naked locker selfies.

-

“Hey,” Leon says, cradling his phone between his ear and shoulder. “How’s life?”

“You’re missing out on _everything_. All the chicken nugget and chocolate milk lunches? We’re feasting like kings over here,” Sonia teases, and Leon didn’t know how much he missed her voice until his lips start to wibble. “How about you? Dating any cute farmers yet?”

“I’m fine,” Leon half-lies. He’ll tell Sonia about the uneasiness later, but he just wants to get away from it all for a bit. Out of all his friends he had to move away from, he misses her the most. She’d been the one to laugh through the awkwardness of realizing that she wasn’t the problem; Leon simply wasn’t into girls. And she’d been there for him through all the ups and downs of his freshman year. It’s lonely without a best friend, and Leon feels like a child without his favorite playtoy. “No cute farmers.” 

“Sad!” Sonia says, laughing, and it’s a perfect sound. 

Leon feels himself relaxing, closes his eyes, and leans into the phone. “I met a guy, though. He’s nice, but I don’t know much about him. Tell me about your day, love.”

“Well! I have a _lot_ to tell you! There’s this new girl, Bea, and she’s completely intense! I bet if you two were to arm wrestle, the Earth would crack open from the intensity and—”

For the first time in a long week, Leon finds himself smiling, nodding along to the hum of Sonia’s cheerful voice.

-

By the third week, Leon doesn’t even bother trying to make sense of the map Raihan drew for him. He’d folded it up and tucked it into a notebook folder, for him to smile at during classes instead of paying attention. He marches straight up to Raihan and tugs on his sleeve. “I’m lost… Help?” 

As usual, Raihan’s surprised look melts into a lazy smile that splits his entire face. He snakes an arm around Leon’s shoulders and leads him to his class, the low rumble of, “no problem, champ,” vibrating in his chest hard enough that Leon feels it against his cheek.

-

Leon begins an easy cycle: one that begins with meeting Raihan at the front doors and ends with Raihan smirking at him before closing his locker and skipping out the door. Leon knew he’d get a hang of it eventually, but it’s better than he expected, this early on. He has to eat with the lacrosse team instead of the football team, but he makes friends with a drama club kid named Piers in his Texts and Composition class and a guy named Gordie from Geology, too. In Nutrition, he _does_ meet a farmer’s kid, but Milo’s not exactly dating material. His new friends help him out in the classes he shares with them, and Leon can’t help but think that maybe his sophomore year won’t be so bad.

-

“You doin’ okay, champ?” Raihan asks, squeezing his locs free of moisture after their shower. Leon’s already taken to the nickname, loving the way that Raihan recognizes him as part of his team, the Galar High Champions, even if the rest of his team does not.

“It’s going alright…” he trails off, frowning. In truth, Leon’s having a hard time, but he figures Raihan already has it tough enough being the captain of his own team. He hides his face by patting his own hair dry, eager to replace the way he feels Raihan’s eyes on him with the burn of the towel against his scalp. 

“Playoffs are still a long way off, but we’ll be ready for our first practice match,” Leon says. That, at least, he knows for certain.

“Spoken like a true captain,” Raihan says, sounding proud.

“I’m not a captain,” Leon points out. He says it as something light and funny, but when the towel drops, Raihan’s staring right at him.

“Yet,” Raihan says in a voice dripping in promise.

-

It had never been a problem on his previous team, but he still tries not to stare as Raihan moves back and forth in his towel that looks like it’s a washcloth by the way it hugs his waist and barely covers himself. Leon’s no stranger to naked men in the locker room, but Raihan has the same drawl everybody else does, and he doesn’t know how Raihan would react if he caught Leon staring.

Sometimes… Sometimes the temptation is great. He’s caught Raihan sizing him up, and Leon’s sized him right back, as if they were both imagining each other in the best position in their respective sport. The few times Leon’s caught himself, he’s always looked away, uncharacteristically shy. 

Sometimes Leon catches Raihan leering, his gaze welcoming and cheeky, like he’s _daring_ Leon to look. On those days, Leon slams his locker shut and darts out of the room before he can lose himself in the sharp glint of Raihan’s canines in the locker room lighting.

-

“So why is it that you have to use our locker rooms?” one of Raihan’s teammates asks over lunch, an assured-to-be-delicious medley of generic, soggy vegetables and faux-rice pilaf. 

Beside him, Leon feels Raihan’s shoulders tense, but unlike other lunches where Leon is a periphery character, he feels all eyes on him. “Well… My team.”

Around the table, faces nod blankly and fists grip their plasticware in anticipation, as though waiting for the punchline. Leon’s not ashamed of himself or what he finds attractive, but he’s more reluctant than usual to share this part of himself after his teammates’ lackluster reactions. He already hears the whispers of, ‘gay,’ and meaner words as he passes by in the halls, so he’s surprised Raihan’s team hasn’t put it together yet. 

Leon feels a pressure at the small of his back as he breathes in and out shakily, the silence getting longer and longer, until he realizes it’s Raihan patting him. It gives him enough reassurance to admit the rest out loud, and the worst of it is quicker than he realizes.

“Oh,” one midfielder says, at the same time an attacker growls, “what assholes.” 

“It’s not a problem on my team,” Raihan says demonstratively, while continuing to rub small circles into Leon’s tailbone. 

-

It’s not until the middle of Nutrition that Leon realizes that if what Raihan’s said is true, then he’s not the only gay kid in school. He can’t focus for the rest of the afternoon, shifting through the memories of the lacrosse team and trying to figure out which one he could potentially date. In the end, he can’t quite remember any of their faces besides Raihan’s.

-

Leon regrets trying to figure out how to navigate to his next class on his own, because the moment he’s lost, a trio of cheerleaders crowd him against a wall, headed by the head cheerleader and swim team captain, who has a streak of blue in her hair despite it being pointedly against the school dress code.

“Are you gay?” she asks directly, crossing her arms. 

Was that supposed to be a trick question? “Uh, yes?” 

“Like, really gay?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm…” 

Leon squirms uncomfortably beneath the scrutiny of her gaze. There’s no venom in her voice, and at least that calms down Leon. But there’s also a rumor that she turned down the promposal of last year's Homecoming King, so he can’t quite relax. 

One of the cheerleaders pats Leon’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze with a reassuring laugh. “Don’t mind Nessa! She’s just worried because she and Raihan used to date, but she dumped him when she realized he’s—”

“Shut up,” Nessa snaps, at the same time as another, deeper voice growls the same thing. Leon feels a familiar weight press against his back, and when he looks over his shoulder, Raihan’s glare is heartbroken. 

Nessa holds his eyes for awhile, then they drop back to Leon. She looks almost pleased. 

“Raihan’s always had good taste. Clearly,” she says vaguely, turning on her heel and gesturing for her posse to follow. “See you around, Rai.”

Leon holds his breath while waiting for Raihan’s weight behind him to relax, but it doesn’t happen until Nessa and her crew are out of sight. “What was _that_ all about?”

“Nothing.” Raihan shrugs, makes a complicated waving gesture with both hands, and shrugs again, this time with a big sigh. “She likes you.”

“I don’t like girls,” Leon says simply. Raihan rolls his eyes, and Leon wonders what he’s missed.

-

“Hey, Lee! It’s been awhile! How’s it going?” Sonia’s voice chirps from the other end of the phone.

Leon lets out one long, drawn out sigh, and that should say it all, really. He hugs his pillow to his chest and purses his lips together. “I don’t know. Everybody here is so hard to read.”

She hums in sympathy, and Leon can imagine her glossed lips thinning out and the way her hair bounces whenever she nods her head. “I thought country bumpkins were supposed to be easy to read?”

“Me too,” Leon confesses. He rolls over, playing with some loose threads on the pillowcase. He picks them out, and they don’t make him feel any better.

After a long pause, Sonia takes a breath that can’t be described as anything other than peppy, and she bursts, “so? Any updates on the farmer boyfriend?”

Milo’s the only real farmer he’s met so far, but Raihan’s the first one to come to mind. Leon frowns more deeply. “Nah. I met Raihan’s ex today, though. She’s really pretty.”

“He dated a girl?” Sonia sounds confused. 

“Yeah?” When she doesn’t respond, Leon asks, “why’s that surprising?”

“I mean, from his comments on your Insta and the way you talk about him, I just thought… Well, whatever.” Sound shuffles from Sonia’s side, and Leon guesses she’s cleaning up or leafing through a book. She doesn’t sound distracted, though. “Maybe he’s bi?”

“I don’t think so…” Now there’s a thought. If Raihan was bi, would he even be interested in Leon? He hadn’t let himself think of it. Raihan just seemed nice to everybody. It wasn’t like Leon was particularly special, right? “Anyway, he’s just a friend.”

A very sexy, very charming friend, but a friend nonetheless. 

“Sure,” Sonia snickers in agreement, “a boy and a friend.” 

-

Leon tries not to think too hard about what Sonia said all of the next week. He scrolls through Instagram and pauses at Raihan’s latest post. It’s just a picture of an empty field before practice instead of his usual mid-practice or locker room selfies, but Leon gives it a like anyway. Raihan’s selfies normally get hundreds of likes from the thousands of followers he has from places Leon’s never even heard of, but his empty field post only has a handful of likes from accounts Leon recognizes as friends from school. Leon likes posts like this the most because it gives him a glimpse into the Raihan that isn’t all sharp smiles and easy laughs. 

Leon’s not one to usually post on his social media, but he takes a quick selfie and posts it. His posts never get as many likes as Raihan’s, but he’s only looking for one, really. He breathes a little easier three seconds later, when a notification pops up informing him that Raihan gave his post a like. Leon pushes his face into his pillow to muffle his happy, strangled coo when another notif pops up, Raihan leaving a string of heart-eyes, praying hands, and thumbs up emojis as a comment. There’s absolutely no way he can’t _not_ think about what Sonia said.

-

 _“So,”_ Raihan says, swinging an arm around Leon’s shoulder. Leon figures he should feel awkward about it, considering they’re both wearing nothing but loosely-tied towels around their hips and Leon’s acutely aware of how humid and fresh Raihan’s skin is, but it feels alright. “The match with Kalos is coming up, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. You know about that?” he asks, surprised. It’s not an official match, after all.

Raihan squeezes him with a laugh. It brings Leon closer to him, and Leon has to hold himself back from nuzzling into Raihan’s warm, damp neck. “Dude! You have _no_ idea how big the Kalos match is! It sets our reputation for the rest of the year.” 

“Hmm.” He feels only a little loss when Raihan releases him and begins to fish around in his locker for his uniform. Raihan’s explaining the history of Galar and Kalos’ rivalry and how the kickoff match came to be, but Leon’s not really listening. During a long rant on how Kalos’ rivalry in football is “a puny, overhyped thing” compared to the lacrosse team’s rivalry, he cuts Raihan off: “Will you come?”

 _“Duh.”_ Raihan smiles as warmly at Leon as he pulls his uniform slacks on, carefree and confident. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Leon smiles, feeling a tightness in his chest that isn’t from his polo tight, which is getting too small for his growing form, come to think of it. “Cool.”

-

“Want me to cheer you on?” Raihan teases between classes. Leon pushes at him in play annoyance, but Raihan tilts his head back and lets out a full-toothed laugh. 

-

Leon’s first game as a starting quarterback is on a crisp, early September evening. Their season hasn’t technically started, but the informal match between Galar High School and Kalos Prep Academy is apparently a big deal. He’s surprised to hit the field and see every seat jam-packed with Galar students to one side and Kalos students to the other. The cheering is so loud that it drains out the introductions on the mic as the starting team’s names are called. 

“Whoa,” Leon breathes out. He gets clapped on the shoulder.

“Don’t get starstruck on us,” the offensive captain warns, pushing him forward. 

As Leon walks to his side of the pitch, the cheerleaders goad the crowd on, starting a screaming match between the Galar and Kalos fans. Nessa throws him a wink over her shoulder between a routine. Leon sees his family in the front row, Hop waving a scarf with his team’s name on it and his mom holding up a scarf she specially knitted with his number on it. A few rows back, he sees Raihan, who has his phone out and waves his lanky arm exaggeratedly for Leon’s attention. He surprisingly spots the whole lacrosse team, pushing at Raihan and whistling Leon’s name. In the back, he even spies Piers, who insisted he’d never be caught _dead_ at a highschool football game, probably dragged in by Milo or Gordie, who are sitting right next to him. 

Leon’s chest feels like a balloon slowly inflating with something special; there’s no way he can let down all his favorite people who came here to watch _him_. 

“Just try not to let us down,” the linebacker grumbles. 

“I don’t lose,” Leon promises, grin bright and wild.

-

Leon knows his team doesn’t intend to support him, but he doesn’t intend to lose this match just because of them, either. On his first play, he fakes a throw to the wide receiver, darts around the line, and runs a mad dash straight for the touchdown zone. By the time Kalos has figured him out, he’s halfway down the field. The stadium goes silent as Kalos’ team throws themselves at his legs to bring him down, but Leon hasn’t been doing death sprints over and over for nothing. At one point, a spritely cornerbacker nearly tackles him, but Leon shakes him off and keeps going. 

When Leon crosses that touchdown line, he pulls the pigskin back and strikes his signature pose. He’d become known for it at his previous school, and he was certain it’d carry him into the pros. Around him, the crowd belts out into a roar so loud it makes the astroturf quake. 

-

Besides his first touchdown, the game is pretty boring. He sees the look in his teammates’ eyes begin to shift, and their attitude is surprisingly agreeable once they realize he’s going to win this thing, with or without them. They start to work with him instead of against him, and though the moves are obviously awkward from being so untrained and unpracticed as a team, it’s a relatively easy win. Kalos has some skilled players, but Leon gets the impression they haven’t shown him everything they’re capable of; that’s fine, since Leon hasn’t shown them his top form either. 

Coach claps him on the shoulder after the game, and he gets a few fistbumps from some teammates that refused to even look at him before the game. Even his offensive captain nods approvingly at him and shoves a wet towel in his face. “Not bad.”

It’s small praise, but Leon will take it. Leon makes a beeline for the second locker room as soon as the game is over, and he’s surprised to see Raihan leaned against the door. 

“Hey,” Leon breathes. He pulls out his mouth guard and holds his helmet to properly face Raihan. It’s hard to shuffle everything in his arms — the teddy bears, the flowers, the hydroflasks of chilled water he didn’t ask for — and he ends up setting some of it down.

“Hey,” Raihan echoes, pushing himself off and approaching. He’s wearing a generic hoodie with a Galar High logo on it, which does things for Raihan’s neck and shoulders that Leon couldn’t adequately appreciate from his view on the field. Leon’s heart thumps madly with post-game adrenaline. “You were pretty amazing out there! That first touchdown was wow!”

“Thanks,” Leon says. He smiles and hopes it looks nice; he knows the stench of sweat after a game is pretty unbearable, and his bangs feel like they’re pasted to his forehead from how long they’d been tucked in his helmet. 

“I, uh,” Raihan says awkwardly, shuffling his weight from foot-to-foot. “Here. I know it’s not much compared to all the other swag, but I got you a little something.” 

Raihan pulls out a small canister of Tiger Balm from his hoodie pocket and holds it out. Leon almost swears he’s blushing, but it’s hard to tell with one of the overhead lights burnt out.

Leon stares at the offered gift, and it makes him want to do something crazy, like ask for a selfie or kiss him or ask Raihan to rub it all over him. Instead, he accepts the tin gracefully, his fingertips lingering on Raihan’s palm. 

“Thanks,” he says again, clenching the tin against his heart, “this is just what I needed.”

-

Raihan’s waiting for Leon outside the double doors as usual, and Leon walks up to him with a spring in his step. The day after a winning match always feels amazing, and Raihan looks particularly nice in the morning sunlight. 

“Mornin’,” Leon chirps, but Raihan only nods back, face pinched. Leon wants to ask him about it, but Raihan gestures toward the door and holds it open for Leon. Leon ducks beneath his arm just like every day he’s done since Raihan started walking him to his classes, but the second he steps into the halls, everybody’s eyes turn to him and then the hallway becomes a raucous jam of pushy elbowing, shoulder checking, and handsy grabbing. 

“Leon! Let me walk you to your class!”

“Eat with us today at lunch, Leon!”

“Leon, you’re soooo hot! Wanna go out with me?”

His brain feels like it’s spinning from the flood of questions still being thrown at him, and Leon finds himself backing up as the crowd pushes in on him. Leon was prepared to win his match against Kalos. What he wasn’t prepared for was the surge of popularity the day after. 

The weight behind him is solid and familiar and it growls, “give him some space, will you?”

In a daze, Leon lets Raihan guide him around the crowd by shouldering him into a small sliver of hallway space, and he notices that the small pathway is created by both the lacrosse and football teams working together. He almost misses the sullen, openly nasty way Raihan glares at the crowd.

-

“That…was a lot.” Leon exhales, once they're far enough from the crowd. “Football was big at my old school, but that was just crazy!”

“It’s to be expected. You’re the quarterback and you won an important match. You’ll be really popular from now on,” Raihan points out. He shrugs, but his tone is unusually subdued and he looks down at the floor, kicking at nothing. “You’ll have your pick of friends now. Boyfriends, too, probably.”

“Why would I need anybody else? I already have you,” Leon says, before he can catch himself. It’s a slip of the tongue, but he means it; he’s come to think of Raihan as one of his best friends, and not even a boyfriend could replace him. 

Raihan’s lips twitch, settle, then twitch harder, surprise and more surprise cycling over his face. He pointedly looks away as his face becomes redder and redder with each passing second. Shit, Leon knew he’d made it weird, but it sucks to see Raihan squirm uncomfortably like this. “C-Cool. I mean, me too.” 

When Raihan’s eyes finally dart to Leon and back away, Raihan bites down a goofy grin with those canines Leon hasn’t been able to stop thinking about. Leon knows Raihan’s just looking at him as his friend, but the soft way his eyes slit when he smiles at Leon looks like something a guy would do while looking at his boyfriend. 

-

Raihan wears that stupid grin all morning as he shoulders freshmen and seniors alike off of Leon between classes.

-

At lunch, Leon moves to set his tray beside Raihan’s, but he’s hip checked into the aisle and pushed forward by a pair of shoulders, prodded and shoved until he’s sitting at the football team’s table. Twin palms nudge him down to sit, then slide into place beside him. It’s weird and uncomfortable and nobody says a word about it. 

Leon looks over his shoulder to look at Raihan and tries to mime an apology, but Raihan waves him off. He sees Raihan mouth, ‘have fun,’ before turning to his own table, and Leon surrenders himself to his fate. 

Today’s lunch is Mystery Meat again, and it tastes just as bad as the first time.

-

“Today was _aw_ ful,” Leon whines, slamming his locker shut. He feels absolutely drained, and his teammates weren’t much better than everybody else, once he got to practice. He’s just happy it’s over now. 

“At least we have a long weekend,” Raihan says encouragingly. He’s the epitome of relaxed, laying in just his underwear and an undershirt while watching Leon change into his school uniform. “Labor Day’s good for _some_ thing.”

Leon nearly gets tangled in his shirt from excitement. “Oh, you’re right!”

Raihan laughs at him trying to wiggle his head through an armhole, and once he manages to right his shirt, he notices Raihan watching him intensely. Leon smoothes out the wrinkles from his shirt, trying to ignore how squirmy his stomach feels when Raihan looks at him like that. 

“Hey, since we both won’t have practice, do you wanna hang out on Monday?” Raihan leans over the bench, grinning up at Leon. Leon immediately wants to pipe an enthusiastic, ‘yes!’ but then he considers that maybe he has a… _crush_ on Raihan, and hanging out isn’t exactly the best option for their friendship. Leon must be thinking it over too long, and Raihan’s cheeky grin fades a little. “It could be a study date…? I’ve seen your schedule, and I take all AP classes. Pretty sure I could help you out.” 

Raihan’s offer is way too hesitant, and it makes Leon’s heart feel like it’s pounding against his chest for different reasons. Eventually Leon remembers how to words. “Um. Yeah. Sure.”

“Alright,” Raihan says, pulling his bandana down to hide the hopeful and flustered sparkle dancing his eyes. “I’ll pick you up for lunch, then.”

-

The study date, however, is a complete bust, if the way Raihan says, “oh,” indicates anything. 

“You actually brought…textbooks,” Raihan says, frowning at thick pre-algebra book Leon throws on the table and his ratty notebook. 

Leon frowns at his book. Raihan himself called it a study date, so it wasn’t a far stretch to assume they needed something to study. “Yeah? Did I…mess up?”

“No,” Raihan says, but it sounds like he’s pouting. He begins to leaf through the pages of Leon’s pristine, rarely used textbook, sighing deeply. “Uh, okay. This works, though. What do you need help with?”

“Uh.” It’s difficult for Leon to actually remember _what_ he needs help with, since all he can focus on is how good Raihan looks out of a hoodie. He’s wearing a button-up shirt with short sleeves, and Leon didn’t think Raihan’s forearms could compete with his legs in shorts, but by golly, it was a close match. He holds his breath for as long as he did when Raihan pulled up to his house in his four-door, dually pickup.

“Let’s just start where your notes left off.” Raihan hums, then flips through a few pages of Leon’s notebook. The most recent page is bookmarked with the map Raihan drew for him on the first day, and Raihan raises a brow at it, flipping it to the backside to see if it’s relevant. “What’s this?”

“Wait! No!” Once Leon sees Raihan’s eyebrows raise, he knows Raihan’s figured it out. Leon wants to snatch his treasured keepsake away, but he also doesn’t want to rip the page. “That’s private!”

“You kept this? That’s cute,” Raihan teases. He sets the paper aside carefully, petting it with the tip of his forefinger. Leon’s cheeks steam from both embarrassment and the cute way Raihan’s right cheek dimples from smirking so smugly. Raihan splits Leon’s notebook to the chapter that matches the confusing symbols in his notebook and taps on the chapter title. _“You’re_ cute. Now give me a pen so I can teach you how to plot coordinates.”

-

In the end, it’s not much of a study date. Raihan gives up on trying to teach Leon coordinates after fifteen minutes, claiming that Leon has to be doing this on purpose if he can calculate the spin of a football but fail at plotting (-3, 6) on the Cartesian plane. Leon also feels bad because Raihan only has enough money to split a milkshake, and Leon takes up so much space that Raihan’s knees keep knocking into his beneath the table. Leon knows he shouldn’t enjoy how much it feels like a _date_ , but it’s nice. Raihan’s nice. Whichever girl gets to date Raihan will be really, _really_ lucky. 

-

“Next time, let’s just hang out at my place,” Raihan says as he balls up a sweaty practice jersey and throws it into his locker. “Forget your textbook, okay? You’re hopeless.”

“Yeah,” Leon laughing in agreement, heart swooning at the implication there will _be_ a next time.

-

The first time Leon goes to Raihan’s house, a tall woman with smooth skin and laugh lines along her cheeks answers the door. Leon takes in the long-sleeved denim top, flowy skirt, and sunflower-print hijab she’s wearing while she tsks. “Habibi! Your little boyfriend is here! And he’s so big, nothing like you! I keep telling you that you’re too skinny!”

Leon preens at the compliment, and tries to force down the butterflies at the way Raihan’s mom says, ‘little boyfriend,’ in her thick accent. 

_“No!_ Ma, you promised you wouldn’t embarrass me!” Raihan screams from somewhere in the house, and there’s a loud pounding, like he’s falling down the stairs.

“Here, he’s going to tell you to leave them on the table, but take some snacks,” she whispers to Leon conspiratorially, shoving a bowl of chips and dry snacks into Leon’s arms. “Make sure he eats the whole thing.”

Leon holds the bowl in both arms carefully so as not to spill anything. When Raihan tumbles to the entrance, he slams the door and yanks Leon toward the stairs by the wrist. “Just leave those on the table.”

“Your mom is sweet,” Leon says while pointedly stuffing a handful of chips in his mouth. Raihan groans. 

-

“Tsk,” Raihan grunts in the same way his mom does, for the fiftieth time in as many minutes. He’s still pressed, smashing the buttons of his XBox controller way harder than necessary. The screen declares Leon winner for the third time in a row and Raihan throws his controller to the ground. “Next time, we’re hanging out at _your_ place.”

“Sure,” Leon says easily, taking another chip. “I’ll introduce you to my mom and little brother and everything.”

Raihan’s head snaps to attention, his whole spine straightening. “Yeah? You’ll introduce me to your family already?”

Leon shrugs. “Why not?”

“Hmm.” Raihan picks up the controller from the floor, and when he rearranges himself on his bed, he scoots closer to Leon. He’s smiling, but it looks like he’s trying to force it down. “Cool.”

-

From the moment Leon returns the empty bowl, he sees an approving glint in Raihan’s mom’s eyes. 

-

“Well, I’m off,” Leon announces, but he announced that ten minutes ago, and he and Raihan are still lingering around the entrance. Raihan hums agreement as he leans very strategically against the door, and they’re back to grinning at each other like loons.

“Leon, you’re still here!” Raihan’s mom notices as she comes out of the living room. “Are you going home now? How did you come?”

“I walked,” Leon answers politely, just as her eyes narrow. 

“Drop him off, Raihan.” 

Raihan shoots his mom an annoyed look. “He walked here by himself, ma.”

“Drop him off, Raihan.”

“You don’t really need me to drop you off, right, Leon?” He looks at Leon pleadingly, but before Leon can insist he’s fine walking, Raihan’s mom pipes up again.

“Now, Raihan. What kind of man are you if you don’t take your little boyfriend home? You finally find a good one, and then you don’t treat him right? And he’s handsome, too. Anybody could pick him off the street, and then you’ll be—”

 _“Ma!”_ Raihan screeches, yanking Leon out the door by the wrist, and this time Leon laughs along with her.

“You’re welcome any time!” she calls out to Leon from the door. “Please take care of my stubborn son.”

-

“Sorry about…that,” Raihan groans, slamming his car door shut. “She’s not used to me bringing…friends over.”

“It’s okay,” Leon says. He settles himself in Raihan’s leather seats and hums. It’s more luxurious on the inside than it looks on the outside, just like Raihan’s home and room. Between her accent and the words she chose, Leon figures she’s still adjusting to life in the States. “Where’s she from?”

“Indiana,” Raihan answers immediately, and the rest of the ride is silent.

-

Despite the initial awkwardness at Raihan’s home, Leon finds himself a regular fixture there every Friday, and things slide back into normalcy at school. Raihan even struts up to Leon a week later, pushing himself against Leon’s locker and clearing his throat none too subtly. “My team has our first practice match later this week. It’s nothing official or anything, but, uh…”

Raihan’s bravado dissipates, and his eyes fall to his shoes, which must be interesting because he can’t manage to look anywhere else as he flounders for the right words. Leon laughs at Raihan nervously twisting his earring back and forth, unused to seeing Raihan so flustered. Besides, it’s easy enough to guess at what Raihan’s trying to get at.

Leon only has to imagine the lacrosse uniform he’s seen hanging in Raihan’s locker before Leon says, “I’d love to come watch.”

-

“Will I see the guy? You know, the gay one on your team?” Leon asks, as Raihan escorts him down the halls to the gym. That’s probably the one place he can navigate to by himself, but he still likes the little bit of time he gets to share with the other boy.

Raihan laughs like Leon’s flirting with him, and bumps his shoulder against Leon’s. “Yeah, I bet he’s your type.”

-

So that’s how Leon finds himself staying after practice on a Thursday evening, and sitting in the front row of the bleachers. Unlike his game against Kalos, the pews are mostly empty, save for a few, dedicated family members, and two separate groups of girls huddled together, which Leon assumes are team girlfriends. The sparse crowd makes the field seem larger and more unsettling than Leon is accustomed to. 

It’s kind of lonesome sitting by himself, but he doesn’t know anybody else well enough to sit by them. It’s easy enough to pass time texting Sonia or one of his new friends, anyway, and before he knows it, it’s time for the game to start. Leon feels a little bad that lacrosse doesn’t get the same attention that the football team does as the two teams enter without a band or announcement flourish. Some of the girlfriends call out to their boyfriends, and the boyfriends wave back in a showy way. Leon doesn’t call out, but Raihan waves to him from the field in the same way his teammates wave to the girls.

Compared to the football games Leon’s played in or watched, the event is pretty lowkey. The game is at an awkward time wedged in between field hockey and flag football practice matches, and even the girlfriends seem more interested in their chatter than the game. Leon doesn’t really know the first thing about lacrosse, but he tries his best to follow. He appreciates good sports and good boys, and he sees both on the field. 

Leon watches carefully, noting the player styles and strengths. Leon doesn’t want to come off as judgemental, but he’s always imagined himself with a strong athlete who can rival his own talents and push himself to new heights. From what he sees on the field, the lacrosse team has strong teamwork overall, but Raihan’s the only star player he really sees. He scores half of the team’s twelve points, and keeps running even when the team is down in the third quarter. A few times, the swings Raihan makes has his heart beat like it’s in double time, and Leon jumps to his feet to cheer with the rest of the sparse crowd at the last minute-comeback Galar’s lacrosse team makes.

-

After the match, Leon meets the team outside the locker exit, where most of the girlfriends and family wait around. It’s a bit awkward hanging around in their company, since the small crowd seems to know who’s who already and makes small talk with each other while waiting for the players to come out. Not even Leon, it seems, is exempt from this.

“Who are you waiting for?” one of the moms asks Leon, and she smiles tightly when he replies, “Raihan.”

-

Eventually, the lacrosse team begins to emerge, and Raihan’s eyes practically bug out when he sees Leon waiting with the crowd. Before Leon can say, “good game,” or, “you were great,” Raihan’s scoops him into a bear hug. Raihan’s weight is warm and damp from the shower, and Leon can still smell a bit of sweat when he noses at Raihan’s bandana.

Leon starts to look around none too obviously once Raihan releases him, taking note of which players beeline toward their girlfriends and which are alone. He subtly looks for any sign of who the gay player is when Raihan asks, “So? What did you think?” and, “Did you think I was cool?” and the like.

“The game is more about strategy than I expected,” Leon answers, still distracted by all the movement. Raihan seems to notice and pointedly moves into Leon’s line of sight. Leon’s glad for it; he would have missed the way Raihan puffed his chest out with a satisfied flush at the compliment. Leon finds it impossible to look away from Raihan when he’s amped up like that, and admits with a smile, “you were _very_ cool.” 

Raihan practically preens. He takes a step closer, and Leon realizes this is probably the closest they’ve ever been. He looks up, and Raihan looks so hopeful. “Say, Leon…” 

“Yes?”

Raihan’s eyes drift around his face in little zigzags like he’s looking for something there. Leon smiles up reassuringly, lifting both of his eyebrows pointedly, and Raihan’s smile finally relaxes. “Would you like to come with me for our victory meal? It’s kind of a tradition.”

Leon’s eyes light up because even his own team hasn’t let him in on these rituals. He pushes himself against Raihan excitedly. “Of course!”

The confident puff Raihan had done earlier was adorable, but it’s nothing compared to the way Raihan smiles so wide that it makes his canines peek out.

-

They end up walking to the Denny’s two blocks away, and it’s natural Leon should stick by Raihan’s side, he figures, since he doesn’t know anybody else. A few times on the way, Raihan’s knuckles bump against Leon’s, and one time Raihan’s finger gets tangled between Leon’s. It’s a little awkward, and they both pull their hands away while blushing at each other, but Raihan’s shoulders are still really close, pressing into Leon’s the entire walk.

-

The lacrosse team already has three tables set up at the restaurant, but it’s still a tight squeeze with the extra girlfriends and siblings. Leon recognizes most of the players, but some of the new faces gawk at him openly.

“You’re _Leon!”_ one younger sibling pipes excitedly. “My big bro wasn’t kidding for once, huh!”

One of the girlfriends from a different school tilts her head and looks at Leon in confusion. Her boyfriend pats her arm and says, “Raihan,” but if anything, her face becomes _even more_ confused. 

A pair of attackers without girlfriends wiggle their eyebrows, shifting their looks between Raihan and Leon.

The reactions are a bit much, but Raihan pats Leon’s thigh reassuringly, which helps ground Leon. Mostly, the group is welcoming and sweet, and they start asking Leon every question from, “what’s your zodiac sign?” to, “what do you miss most about the city?” They fall into a comfortable lull of conversation and laughter that has the staff stopping by frequently to remind them to quiet down for the other patrons. Lacrosse teams are smaller than football’s, so it feels intimate and nice. Leon already recognizes most of the players already from lunch, but he still tries to be attentive as possible, putting his best self forward in case one of them is The Guy. 

-

“Is Raihan as good off the field as he is on it?” the goalie asks as Raihan is in the middle of a sip, and immediately Raihan chokes on his Sunkist.

“He’s alright,” Leon says, trying not to enjoy the way the soda drips out of Raihan’s nose.

-

Leon wishes that was the worst of the embarrassing questions, but the worst of it is actually when one of the girlfriends asks, “hey, Leon, what’s your type?” and he lets out a long, _“uhh.”_

If he’s trying to make a good impression, he doesn’t exactly want to describe his type in a way that will limit his options. Blushing thickly, he looks for help to Raihan, who blushes right back at him. 

The whole table seems to think it’s hilarious for whatever reason, and blows up in laughter.

-

By the end of the dinner, Leon concludes that maybe he could grow to like one of Raihan’s teammates in time, but none of them really make Leon feel a spark. Leon sighs, rubbing his cheek against Raihan’s shoulder from where he’s slumped against him.

“Tired?” Raihan asks.

Leon’s cheek drags as he nods. “Yeah, but it’s alright. You’re enjoying yourself, right? I can walk back on my own.”

“No, I invited you, so I’ll walk you back,” Raihan insists. He says some quick farewells to his teammates and exchanges some fistbumps as Leon makes rounds to bid everybody a polite, “goodnight,” and, “it was nice meeting you.” The table lets out a collective, _“byeee,”_ as they leave, and Leon hears them snickering as soon as his and Raihan’s backs are turned.

-

“What’d you think about hanging out with my team?” Raihan asks as they make their way to the school parking lot. They cut across the football field and walk in and out of the soft glow of the sidewalk lights, shoulders checking each other like they did on their way to the restaurant. 

Leon thinks about it while avoiding the cracks in the ground. “They’re all really nice. That’s the most important thing, really. I just want my boyfriend to be nice.”

“Okay?” Raihan says back, in a tone that’s normally used when he doesn’t understand what Leon’s getting at. Leon looks away from the cracks, only to see Raihan’s lips thinned out and his eyebrows furrowed. “I’m plenty nice.”

“You are,” Leon agrees quickly, though flushing. His tiny, crushing heart can’t really hold the weight of that implication, and he desperately wants to change the subject. Instead he clarifies, “all of your team seemed pretty straight to me. Are any of them gay?”

At that, Raihan actually pouts. “Are you trying to make me jealous?”

Leon almost laughs. “Why would you be jealous?” 

Raihan takes a step forward and stops right in front of Leon, so quick that Leon bumps into him. Raihan looks down at him, his face pale and serious. “You’re talking about guys.” 

“Oh,” Leon realizes out loud. Oh no, he must have made Raihan feel uncomfortable. That was fair, considering there weren’t any cute girls for Raihan to flirt with at dinner. It seemed like family only, actually. “Sorry.”

Raihan purses his lips together, and his blue eyes drift away to the side, focusing somewhere else. Eventually he shrugs and turns on his heel, a silent motion for Leon to follow. “Whatever, let’s go.”

-

They’re hanging out at Raihan’s place when Raihan brings it up again: “so what _is_ your type?” 

He’d been too embarrassed at the time to give a serious answer at the restaurant, but Leon thinks about it. As his friend, he can be honest with Raihan. “Taller than me, for sure. Nice. That’s about it?” 

“So tall, dark, and handsome, huh?” Raihan teases. 

Leon grins at him, then pops one of the snacks Raihan’s mom pushed on them in his mouth. “Yeah, pretty much. You?” 

“Long hair and sculpted like a god,” Raihan says immediately, eyes on Leon’s the entire time. 

Leon snorts, trying to hold back his laugh. “We don’t have very many muscular girls at school, do we?” 

Raihan looks at Leon with a funny frown, then moves onto a different topic.

-

Next week picture day rolls around, and given Raihan’s social media addiction, Leon is absolutely unsurprised that it’s Raihan’s favorite day of the year. He’d been strutting since the beginning of the day, and everywhere he turned, he smiled as if the cameras were ready and waiting for him. 

“Nerd,” Leon teases. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll give you a headshot.” Raihan shoots him a wink and gestures exaggeratedly with a flourish. “For you, I’ll even autograph it!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Leon rolls his eyes, but he has no doubt that Raihan will have the best photo in the yearbook. He was already the best looking student in the entire school.

-

The thing is, Raihan follows up on that promise a week later. He leans against the hallway lockers and shamelessly hands Leon a 5x7 copy of his yearbook photo. 

“For you,” he says smugly. “A great exclusive of the Great Raihan. Frame it. Treasure it. Look upon it fondly for years to come.” 

“You really signed it, huh?” Leon asks incredulously, thumbing the autograph. He sees Raihan shrugging happily out of the corner of his eye and the way it changes into a jaw-dropping stare when Leon wedges the picture beneath one of the magnets he uses to hold up his football schedule. “I think I have one of mine in here, too. It’s not signed but… Here.”

It’s only fair to offer one of his own pictures, Leon figures, but Raihan’s reaction seems far more enthusiastic than a reciprocated gift. He holds it so gently and coos a breathless, _“wow!”_ like Leon’s given him a prized possession. Raihan holds it against his heart, smile flushed and expression over the moon. “Thank you.”

-

Leon felt the unfightable urge to kiss him back then, but not as much as when he sees Raihan has Leon’s picture hanging in his locker too.

-

But Leon knows he can’t. For one, Raihan doesn’t like him like that. For two, Leon hears the whispers behind his back. He may be popular now, and everybody might smile to his face, but he hears the hushed voices whenever he turns the corners, sometimes walking in on conversations he’s not meant to hear. 

_‘Gaaaay.’_

_‘I bet I could turn him straight.’_

_‘He’s not really, right? He doesn’t look gay.’_

Those weren’t even the worst of it. Everybody thinks he doesn’t know what they say, but he does. It’s not something he wants to subject Raihan to, especially because the murmurs are twice as loud whenever he’s with his friend.

-

“Your team really doesn’t have a problem with gay teammates?” Leon asks, feeling tired and disheartened by the rumors today.

Raihan just shrugs, and his look is especially nonplussed. “Everybody’s cool with it. It’s not a big deal being gay or straight on my team.”

“Hmm.” Leon wishes that were the case for his own team. Then again, he probably wouldn’t have come to know Raihan so well. Raihan would have never asked him to hang out without this locker room, and he’d never gotten to know the other sports teams either. 

The longer Leon goes without speaking, the more Raihan’s eyes narrow in that dark and sharp way Leon had only seen the day Raihan pushed away the surge of Leon’s new fans. “Is somebody giving you shit?”

“No,” Leon says. Not to his face, at least. “I was just thinking it’d be really nice to be open about dating my boyfriend on my team.”

“Oh,” Raihan says softly. His face softens and his eyes drop to the floor. Leon’s not really sure why, but he says, “sorry,” just as softly too.

-

Ever since the first time Leon visited, Raihan’s careful to drop Leon off before his mom has the chance to nag. He always pulls up to Leon’s driveway and says bye as Leon nods and hops out the passenger side, but this time, he gets out too.

Leon holds his breath as Raihan matches his steps to Leon’s porch, Raihan kicking little rocks to the side of the freshly-cut grass. Raihan walks him all the way up to his front door and sways expectantly, as though he’s waiting for something to happen. Leon tries to be patient, but it doesn’t seem to ever come. Raihan just stares at him.

When it seems clear to Raihan that whatever he’s waiting for isn’t coming, he finally clears his throat nervously. “Hey. I was thinking…” 

Leon raises both of his eyebrows as if to say, ‘go on,’ and Raihan swallows visibly.

“MaybeIcouldwearyourlettermantoyournextgame?” he spits out, so fast that Leon frowns. Raihan takes a deep breath and repeats it, more evenly this time, adding, “lacrosse season doesn’t start up until the spring, but maybe you could wear mine too?”

It’s a weird request, but the idea of Raihan’s lanky form wearing his name and number is a nice one. “Sure. It _is_ getting nippy.”

“Right,” Raihan says, like it’s an inside joke.

-

Leon brings his letterman jacket the next day, and Raihan pulls his right off his back to swap with Leon. In truth, the jackets look exactly the same, except for their last names across the back and the different numbers. Raihan’s jacket is also a year older, and he has some loose threads and the embroidery is slightly faded to show it. 

The fit, though… It’s off for both of them. Leon’s sleeves are too short on Raihan’s arms, and the jacket itself comes to just above his hips while the shoulders and chest sag. 

“It’s not so different from a hoodie,” Raihan admits, moving his arms up and down to admire the baggy fabric. “Little short, though.”

“Yours is tight,” Leon says, after pulling it on and buttoning up. Raihan’s jacket is longer on the sleeves and tighter around the chest, but Raihan helps him adjust it, and almost fits as well as his own. Leon snuggles into the collar. “It’s warm.”

“Yeah, looks good on you,” Raihan says in a tone Leon can’t quite place. It sounds fond but scared, worried but approving. The fit is completely adjusted, but Raihan’s hands don’t move from where he’s petting his school colors on Leon.

-

Normally Leon has to squeeze through his fans, who scream and plead with him the second he enters school, but today it’s so quiet that he can hear his own footsteps. It’s almost creepy, and Leon nearly wishes somebody would ask him out, just so that it feels a little normal. 

Raihan’s just as tense by his side, but he nudges Leon toward his first class like it’s any other day. 

“Oh my god,” somebody whispers behind them. Leon sees Raihan grinding his molars together by the way his jaw clenches, and Leon’s shoulders are stiff too. Everybody parts easily as Raihan walks him to his math class.

-

“Dude. _Dude,”_ Leon’s tight end says as soon as Leon sits down. “You have to take off that jacket, like, _right now.”_

“Why?” Leon asks, staring longingly at the lacrosse table, where Raihan’s teammates are catcalling and slapping him on the back. 

“Coach is gonna _kill_ you,” his teammate says, looking horrified for Leon. 

Leon shrugs. “What’s the big deal?”

His teammates shift away awkwardly, like Leon is something contagious. 

-

He doesn’t even make it through lunch before his and Raihan’s coaches grab them by the elbows and drag them to the front office. They’re told to swap jackets and sent back to class, despite Leon’s protests that the cheerleaders get to wear their boyfriends’ lettermans without being told to give them back. 

“Look, Leon,” Coach says, “you’ve come a long way since the beginning of the year. You don’t _really_ want to risk your reputation after all that hard work, do you?”

Coach Kabu folds his arms, watching them both sympathetically. “It’s not a problem to me, but it explicitly says in our Code of Conduct that members of different teams aren’t allowed to swap jerseys or any related uniforms, except for sanctioned school functions.”

Leon inhales deeply and is about to scream fuck the Code of Conduct, but Raihan grabs his hand and shakes his head ever so slightly. 

“That rule was written a long time ago. The code is pretty outdated,” Coach Kabu admits. He folds his arms behind his back and straightens up. “We didn’t realize it was a problem, but we can work on changing it now.”

Coach glares at Coach Kabu, but Coach Kabu’s presence isn’t one to be challenged. 

“In the meantime, you’ll have to swap back,” Coach Kabu goes on. Coach sighs relief while Leon scoffs. Coach Kabu pointedly stares at both Leon and Raihan for this next bit. “Of course, we can’t regulate what you wear outside of school.”

Raihan squeezes his hand reassuringly, but Leon’s head thumps against the back of his chair. He hasn’t lost a game since elementary school, but _this_ feels like a loss.

-

“This isn’t _fair!”_ Leon screams in the locker room. There was no way he’d act docile and head to class after _that_ , and Raihan sits on one of the changing benches, watching Leon pace back and forth and hold himself back from punching a locker. 

“Kabu said we can wear them outside of school,” Raihan points out.

“That’s not the _point!”_ Leon roars. Raihan winces, and Leon lets out a hiss like a deflating balloon. It’s not fair to take his feelings out on Raihan, but he’s so _angry_. He whines, trying to hold all the ugly feelings away from Raihan, but it hurts. He balls his fists and rubs his eyes, feeling a hot prickle there. 

“C’mon,” Raihan eventually says, pulling Leon by the elbow and coaxing him closer. Leon falls forward like a limp, albeit heavy, sack of jerseys. Raihan pulls him close and rubs his shoulders, leaning his cheek against the crown of Leon’s hat. “It’ll be alright.”

Leon growls. He pushes his face into Raihan’s neck and wraps both arms around him. He doesn’t care how it looks, letting the hot tears spill down his cheek.

“I’ll take you somewhere fun to make up for it,” Raihan coos, patting his back and rocking them back and forth.

Leon thinks about it for exactly two seconds. He clears his throat, rubbing his snotty nose against Raihan’s shoulder. “Okay.”

-

As promised, Raihan invites Leon out that Friday. He rolls up to Leon’s house after school and tells him to hop in, smirking whenever Leon asks where they’re headed. “Somewhere fun,” he says vaguely.

Raihan’s definition of fun and Leon’s definition of fun are apparently very, very different things. Raihan pulls into a drive-in movie theater that looks like it’s seen better days, and buys tickets for a double feature to a dumb thriller and a slasher movie. Leon appreciates the effort though. Raihan certainly went out of his way to make the back of his pickup comfortable for the two of them. There’s an air mattress already pumped and tied down to the bed and Raihan unloads no less than three large duffels of blankets and pillows, lining the back and sides especially. 

“This is okay,” Leon says stubbornly, upgrading his opinion to, “this is nice,” once Raihan bribes him with popcorn and soda.

It’s still not Leon’s idea of a perfect Friday night, but it improves dramatically in the middle of the first movie when Raihan pulls the blanket over both of them and leans against Leon, burying his face in Leon’s hair. “You smell nice.”

“Mm,” Leon hums, both stressed and unaware. Normally that kind of talk would have Leon’s heart pounding, but right now his heart is pounding for a completely different reason. On screen, a nurse is being stalked by a serial killer, and she’s trying to outsmart his attempts to capture her. 

“You’re so warm,” Raihan tries again, twenty minutes later, after faking a yawn and successfully wrapping an arm around Leon’s waist.

“Uh huh.” Leon’s so focused on the movie, he misses the way Raihan slips a hand beneath his shirt and thumbs at his hip. He is, however, acutely aware of how the killer grabbed a knife out of the kitchen and is waiting in the closet. “Oh… _no.”_

“N-No?” Raihan peeps, pulling his arm away, and Leon looks at him for a second, unsure when Raihan got so close.

“I meant— the movie,” Leon says lamely, pointing.

“Oh… Yeah.” Raihan’s expression sours, and there’s no saving it, even when Leon grabs his arm and snakes it around him like before. Raihan settles back into place with a sigh, and even he seems to get into the movie a little while later. “This is…pretty good…” 

They watch in silence, and Raihan doesn’t even make a move for another forty minutes. Leon’s so into the movie he doesn’t hear Raihan’s snores, not until a jumpscare in the second movie that makes Leon jerk and yelp out loud, and Raihan wakes up with a jolt and scream of his own.

-

Raihan yawns, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he blinks blearily at the road. “Sorry, I fell asleep…”

“It’s okay. I enjoyed the movies,” Leon confesses sheepishly. 

“I’ll stay awake next time,” Raihan promises, his words trailing off into another yawn. “Or maybe you can pick something else. Yeah, you pick.”

“Yeah?” 

“Sure, babe,” Raihan slurs, and Leon’s heart thuds in double time. It’s just a sleep-deprived slip of the tongue, but Leon smiles the rest of the night because of it.

-

Leon chooses bowling, and to nobody’s surprise, he absolutely creams Raihan. When Raihan doesn’t have a stick in his hand, he has all the grace of a three-legged gazelle, and Leon nearly snorts soda pop out of his nose every time Raihan trips on the waxed floor. 

“You have, like, a hundred pounds on me!” Raihan complains after Leon’s third strike in a row.

“Then you pick next time,” Leon teases, like Raihan had said last time. It makes Raihan grin in that lazy way that stretches across his whole face, and it makes Leon’s insides feel like they’re firewood, the burn slow and steady. 

-

It’s an easy give and take. Raihan takes him to the only ice cream parlor in town, which doesn’t look like the decor’s been updated since 1950, and Leon spends an entire weekend learning from his mom how to make the perfect Chatpata Nachos so he can teach Raihan how to cook them. When Raihan takes Leon out for what he claims is the best (which Leon later finds out is the _only_ ) Halal in town, Leon reaches for the check, but Raihan grabs it at the same time, and their hands lay on top of each other’s as they awkwardly argue over whose turn it is to pay. 

Sometimes Leon finds little notes from Raihan in his notebook, post-it notes that have small words of encouragement or helpful formulas for his pre-algebra class. Leon returns the favors with Raihan’s favorite candy bars, Snickers, which Raihan admits tastes boring, “but hey, at least they’re not Haram.” It starts a never-ending cycle of small gifts, that range from a playlist Raihan made on Spotify, which includes their favorite songs to listen to in the car when Raihan drops Leon off, to the last bite of pound cake Leon offers right off his fork. Raihan licks it clean, wickedly grinning beneath all his teeth and tongue. 

It’s comfortable and easy, and while it kindles emotions that Leon would rather not actively think about, he can say for sure that Raihan is the best friend he’s ever had.

-

They hang out so regularly that when Leon lets slip, “Raihan and I are going to try that corn maze Milo told me about,” he doesn’t have the heart to say no when Nessa asks, “then can I come along too?”

Leon’s instinctive reaction is to say no. He _wants_ to say no, but as soon as he realizes he wants to do just that, he knows he definitely can’t. For one thing, it’d be rude. And for another, there’s no reason he should monopolize Raihan’s time. Even though his weekly hangouts with Raihan’s seemed like a private, personal thing to safeguard from the rest of the world, that’s just how it seemed to Leon. So reluctantly, he tries to fix up his smile and says, “sure.”

“It’s been awhile since I’ve spent any time with him,” she says quietly, smiling a little bit, and her reaction makes it hard for Leon to remain bitter.

-

“—and Nessa’s coming, too,” Leon finishes cheerfully, doodling in his notebook instead of taking notes like it’s intended for. He might not be using his pair time work effectively in class, but it’s not like Piers is either. Besides, Leon needs to brag a little to feel better about the whole thing. No matter how much he reasons he’s doing the right thing by letting Nessa tag along, he can’t help but feel a little annoyed at having to share Raihan.

“Really? In that case, can I come with?” Piers asks, eyes still glued to his copy of the Great Gatsby, which he _is_ taking notes on. “I was thinking ‘bout going there myself. We’re putting on a horror production later, an’ it seems like it’d be good inspo.” 

“Um.” Leon, who never hesitates, hesitates. Leon, who never refuses, wants to refuse. It actually makes Piers look up. Leon catches himself, smiling shakily. “O-Of course you can!”

Piers eyes narrow in on him. It’s either really good acting or Piers really can smell the lie on him, because he sniffs. “If it’s a problem, I don’t have to.”

“No! It’s not a problem!” Leon insists. But really? It’s a problem.

-

Everybody agrees to meet up at Leon’s house, where Raihan picks him up at the usual 5 o’ clock sharp. For the first time since they started this weekly tradition, Leon forces his smile. As soon as Raihan gets out of the truck and looks at Nessa and Piers, everybody flushes guiltily. 

“You didn’t say this was a _date,”_ Nessa chides Leon under her breath.

“It’s not!” he insists. Even if Raihan _is_ wearing his nicest pair of dark wash jeans and that hoodie that Leon told him looked good in his closet but even better on him. 

“Uh,” Raihan says eloquently, looking from Leon to Nessa to Leon to Piers to Leon. 

“So sorry, Raihan,” says Nessa. 

Piers nods sympathetically. “This blows.”

“The more, the merrier,” Raihan says easily, but he sounds just as enthusiastic as Leon feels.

-

Directions aren’t Leon’s strong suit, and he’s even worse at corn mazes. Raihan has to hold his hand to keep him from separating from the group or getting lost, and the group always turns in the opposite direction he suggests. “I’m not _that_ bad with directions!”

“Of course not, champ. You’re a perfect compass,” Raihan agrees teasingly, squeezing Leon’s hand and pulling it into his hoodie pocket. 

-

They still take a selfie of all four of them at the end of the maze, all of them making a face as they point to the, “I survived!” sign posted at the exit. Raihan posts it on Instagram and Facebook, and Leon gets a small thrill out of Raihan’s caption, which says, ‘Date night with the crew.’

-

Two weeks later, Piers jabs two tickets against his chest.

“What’s this?” Leon asks, reading the tickets over.

“Tickets for the Harvest Fest production,” Piers mumbles. “One for you, an’ one for Raihan. Since the two of you are insufferable n’ shit.”

-

“Neat,” Raihan says, when Leon shows him the tickets. Raihan splays the tickets on the nearest wooden surface and taps at his phone until it looks appropriately aesthetic. I’m going to caption this one, ‘date night, minus the crew,’ okay?”

He looks up pointedly at Leon, but whatever he’s trying to get at, Leon doesn’t understand. “Okay?”

“So don’t invite anybody this time,” Raihan says more explicitly, and Leon nods, his chest swelling with something indescribable, something warm and floating.

-

As a rule, Leon tries not to scroll through Raihan’s comments. He gets jealous of the accounts with washboard abs and giant tits for avatars, which all ask Raihan if he’s single and looking to get down. There are other accounts with default avatars that leave nasty comments calling Raihan a thirst trap and slurs, and whenever Leon reads these comments, he shakes in rage at how powerless he is to protect Raihan from that kind of hate. 

At the same time, Leon can’t hold himself back from scrolling through Raihan’s comments. A giddy thrill surges in his body every time a commenter asks who Leon is and Raihan responds with a winking face emoji. 

-

“What’s your favorite emoji?” Raihan asks idly, preparing to post a selfie of them.

“I like the ones with the shushing face and the hand over its mouth,” Leon says, hooking his chin over Raihan’s shoulder to see what he’s typing. 

“I would have figured the blushing one. You use that one the most,” says Raihan, more concerned with comparing the filters he’s in the middle of swapping through. Leon smiles at the picture of them sticking out their tongues with the Snapchat puppy filter. “Why do you like those?”

“It’s a secret,” Leon teases. He nods when Raihan lands on a filter he likes, and Raihan starts to mess with the other settings.

-

(It’s because Raihan replies with those emojis when commenters ask if he and Leon are dating.)

-

Even though one of those commenters happens to be Hop.

-

“This is Raihan,” Leon introduces to his mom and Hop, the weekend after Hop complained to his mom that Leon had a secret, Instagram-famous boyfriend. 

“Hello, Mrs. Dande,” Raihan says, stiffly formal. He’s even wearing a tie, which is a first, but Leon appreciates it very much. It’s a polite gesture, and besides that, the color really brings out Raihan’s eyes. 

His mom, on the other hand, isn’t exactly dressed to impress. She’d been hyping up this dinner the entire week, but here she was answering the door with her cleaning apron and curlers still in her hair. 

“Ms. Dande is fine,” she corrects, slightly frazzled. She worriedly glances at Leon, hesitates, then addresses Raihan again. “Tell me, Raihan… Do you know how to use tools?”

Raihan’s lips twitch, and he looks up as though seriously considering it. After apparently making a decision, he glances at Leon, who shrugs in a way as if to convey, ‘I have absolutely no idea what she’s going on about.’ 

“Yes,” Raihan says evenly. “My dad is an architect, and my mom makes me fix stuff around the house all the time.”

“Oh good! Then welcome! Come quick!” Leon’s mom immediately grabs Raihan by the wrist and leads him down the hallway. “It’s just me and the boys, and we don’t know the first thing about DIY! I’m awfully sorry about the mess!”

“Mess?” Raihan and Leon both say at the same time. Leon follows his mom and friend until they’re standing in front of the guest bathroom, and Leon utters an, “oh god,” the moment he sees water leaking beneath the crack of the door.

“Please don’t be mad, sweetie,” she pleads, this time addressing Leon. Leon’s face is already burning up. Raihan hasn’t even been in his house for ten minutes, and his mom really wants them to fix a flooding toilet. “I’ve already called the local plumber and handyman, but they’re all booked up until Monday! Me and Hop have been trying to patch it up using Youtube tutorials all afternoon…but, well, you can see how that went.”

“Ah,” Raihan says, while Leon slowly dies inside. Leon turns to tell Raihan that he _really_ doesn’t have to do this, but Raihan’s already folding up his sleeves. “Sure thing, Ms. Dande. I know just what to do.”

-

By the end of the evening, Leon’s pretty sure that his mom likes Raihan more than Leon and Hop combined, which is really saying something. They also have a perfectly working sink, a toilet that doesn’t run, and freshly spackled walls where Leon’s mom rearranged their family photos in the living room.

“Can we keep him!?” Hop pleads, at the same time Leon’s mom grabs both of Raihan’s hands and breathes, _“Son.”_

-

It stands to reason that whenever one part of Leon’s life should be successful, another must go to absolute shit. Football hadn’t even been that hard lately, both in terms of practice and getting along with his team, so of course the very next week had to rip him a new one.

 _“Ow,”_ Leon says out loud, having said it so often that it’s starting to annoy _himself_ now.

“You doing okay there, champ?” Raihan asks, leaning against the locker next to Leon’s. He looks Leon up and down, but Leon doubts his pains can be seen on his chest or abs.

“Mm. Just sore,” he says demonstratively, flexing a bicep. He and Raihan both watch as the muscle pumps, an angry vein throbbing down the inside of his arm. 

Raihan’s gaze curls around the muscle and down the vein, follows the vein back up, and drags down Leon’s body again. “Where?”

 _“Every_ where.” With a groan, Leon stretches to pop his back, and the sound echoes off all the metal. “My arms. My legs. My back.”

“Your pussy and your crack?” Raihan teases, and Leon shoves one of his dirty sweat towels in Raihan’s face. After his laughing has died down, he presses against Leon again, running his fingertips up and down Leon’s shoulders. “You still got that Tiger Balm I gave you?” 

“Yeah.”

With all the innocence and charm of a devil, Raihan offers: “Give it. I’ll rub you down.”

It’s not a half-bad thought, and Leon finds himself agreeing and digging the little tin out of his locker without protest. By the time he hands it to Raihan, Raihan’s set up a towel on one of the benches, and he gestures for Leon to lay down on it. 

Without a second thought, Leon settles between Raihan’s legs, where he has a thigh on either side of the bench, and he leans down, a set of clean, folded jerseys serving as a pillow. He takes a deep breath that lasts for exactly four seconds and sighs it all out at once, and immediately Raihan gets to work. There’s a cool smear of the balm as Raihan’s hands begin to rub it into his skin, and then the pads of his thumbs really get to work, circling deeply into his back muscles in such a way that gets Leon exhaling and groaning pleasantly. 

“You’re good at this,” Leon says aloud. Raihan just hums, working his hands like silk. 

“Thanks.” And because Raihan is the kind of person that likes the sound of his voice as much as he likes the look of his face, he starts filling in the silence. “So…your family seemed to like me.”

“Yeah,” Leon agrees, sighing into the jerseys. And isn’t that a thought? Hop was as territorial as he was admiring when it came to Leon, and even Hop had been won over. Hop wouldn’t let Raihan leave without a promise to show him how to level his wobbly gaming chair sometime, and though Leon probably should have felt threatened that Hop might replace his hero worship, he could only think of it as endearing. Even his mother, who was sweet and loving but difficult to please, seemed to approve of Leon’s friend. As soon as Raihan left, she joked about when her third son planned on joining them for dinner again. “I’m glad they like you.”

“Me too,” Raihan admits, “I want them to like me, so that’s good.”

He doesn’t sound the least bit shy in saying it, either. Leon thinks about it while rolling his shoulders into Raihan’s hands. He’s never had a friend want to make a good impression on his family. Not like that, at least. “Why do you want them to like you?”

“They’re important to you,” Raihan explains easily, his fingertips swooping around his spine and tapering off. “So they’re important to me too.”

Leon sits up slowly as he processes this, and he turns halfway to face Raihan, who’s already facing him with the most hopeful expression Leon’s ever seen him wear. Raihan’s hands slide down to Leon’s hips, and his balmy-tipped fingers squeeze at the warm muscle there. Leon feels himself tilting his head, just as Raihan closes his eyes, and Leon lets himself give into the pull of their bodies. Just when Raihan’s close enough that Leon can feel his body heat radiating off his skin, there’s an, _“oh shit!”_ and a slam of the locker room door.

“Sorry!” Raihan’s teammate yelps, backing into the door instead of out of it.

The air of whatever was about to happen breaks, and Leon snaps out of it with only a little bit of regret. The loud commotion distracts him, and it’s honestly a funny sight to see a six-foot athlete flounder around like a teenager who just walked in on his parents kissing, so Leon tries shushing him assuredly. “It’s fine. We’re not up to anything, right, Raih—?”

The expression on Raihan’s face can only be described as _murderous_ , and Leon’s never once seen him direct an expression like _that_ to one of his teammates. Raihan’s defender must have done something truly, truly upsetting for Raihan to be shooting him a glare like that. A little awkwardly, Leon grabs his jersey and excuses himself; it looks like those two need to talk way more than him and Raihan.

-

The past week is an off week for the lacrosse team, but Raihan still lingers after school, showing up in the locker room and the bleachers and immediately off the field with little gifts of iced water, fresh towels, or calorie bars for Leon. The first day caught Leon completely by surprise, but he’s come to expect and love the small gifts, even letting Raihan pat his head despite knowing fully well that his forehead is sticky with sweat. From the periphery, Leon knows his team is wincing with their lips pulled back in disgust, but he can’t be bothered with caring about it when Raihan’s touch feels so _right_. 

It’s not until Thursday that the defensive captain pulls Leon back by the collar of his uniform, wedges himself between the two, and snarls at Raihan, “beat it.”

Raihan straightens up as if squaring him up to size, growling a low, “what? You can’t get mad at me for coming to see my—”

 _“Friend,”_ one of Leon’s freshman teammates finishes, voice immediate and strained like something’s about to snap. Both Raihan and Leon’s defensive captain glare at the freshman for the unprompted outburst, but Raihan backs off and Leon’s defensive captain moves out of the way. 

“Seeya, champ,” Raihan says, before shooting one more glare at Leon’s captain and stalking away like a dog licking its wounds.

Leon’s insides twist, both uncomfortably from the situation and dejectedly from Raihan being cut off. For a second there, he was sure Raihan was about to finish that sentence differently. It’s not until Raihan turns the corner that he remembers how to breathe.

-

“Leon, my car’s in the shop, so I need to use yours for work,” Leon’s mom says Sunday night. She’s quiet, and then all of a sudden she asks again, “Leon, did you hear me?”

“Mhmm,” Leon hums immediately, liking Raihan’s posts as he scrolls through his Instagram feed. Mom says something else — gas, Hop, bus — but Leon just hums like he’s listening and nods whenever she asks. “Sure, sure.”

He can’t really concentrate on anything _except_ Raihan’s piercing eyes in his latest selfie.

-

It’s not until Leon’s breath hitches against his phone at fifteen to eight that he realizes he’s never actually _talked_ to Raihan on the phone. They’ve always messaged, usually through Facebook or texts. “Um, hey. Can you pick me up?”

The pause is both excruciatingly long and short at once, and Leon wishes he’d have Facetimed Raihan just to see his face scrunch up. It feels like he’s missing out, somehow. “Like, _right now?”_

“Yeah.” Leon sits on his porch and sighs, his breath making a series of small clouds in the air. “My mom had to borrow my car, and Hop takes the bus, so I don’t really have a way of getting to school today…”

There’s a complicated sound from Raihan’s line, and an odd shuffle. Leon knows he’s not entitled to Raihan’s time or effort, but he’d honestly feel let down if Raihan didn’t come through. Still, his chest swells with relief and appreciation when Raihan relents. “Okay, okay. I mean, yeah. We’ll be late, that okay?”

“Yeah,” Leon says. Better late than not showing up at all, he figures.

“‘Kay, I’m heading over now, then,” Raihan says, but Leon already knows from the background noise. “I’ll be there in, what, twenty minutes?”

“Mhmm,” Leon hums, biting his smile down when he hears the familiar slam of Raihan’s car doors. 

Leon can hear their playlist start up just before Raihan says, “alright, then. Seeya in a bit,” and Leon smiles down as his phone long after the familiar beep ending the call.

-

Since they’re late anyway, they swing by the only Starbucks on the way to school and pick up matching, Venti iced coffees. Raihan takes a picture of their cups tipped together so their names show, and he uploads it onto Instagram before pulling out of the parking lot, leaving Leon in charge of responding to the comments. Leon vigilantly carries out his duty, narrating every comment as it posts.

“Piers left a comment that says, ‘fuck you,’” Leon informs.

Raihan cackles immediately, gripping the steering wheel hard enough to squeak. “Put an asterisk and be like, ‘fuck _y’all!’”_

-

The first time Raihan holds the car door open, it’s completely unexpected. For one, he’s never done it when he’s dropped Leon off at his home, and he’s done that plenty of times before. For another, he helps Leon out of the truck, and it’s not like Leon’s ever needed help with that either. Leon almost, _almost_ brings it up, but the way Raihan tugs his hips by his belt loops takes the breath out of him. Leon’s palms slap on Raihan’s shoulders, and Leon’s body slides in the ready palms of Raihan’s hands, buoying him when the tips of his toes reach the ground. Their chests bump against each other’s, and Leon’s hands slip down to Raihan’s elbows, Raihan’s steady on Leon’s hips.

 _“Wow,”_ Leon whispers, his nose just a bump away from Raihan’s, “you should have opened doors for me from the get go.” 

-

With their iced coffees in hand, and Raihan doing that thing where he holds Leon’s hand so Leon doesn’t get lost, they walk in perfect stride to Leon’s second period. They still have ten minutes before the bell rings, so that’s reason enough to linger outside the door, Leon figures. 

Raihan grins at him and gives his hand a squeeze. “I take it you’re gonna need a ride back after practice?” 

“Yup,” Leon says, popping the P. He takes a sip of his coffee, leaning against Raihan, leaning against the wall.

Raihan nods, accepting it easily. “‘Kay. Rest of the week?”

“Yeah.”

“Mmkay. I’ll wait for you after practice, then.” Raihan smiles down at him, and Leon’s gotten to know Raihan well enough to know when something he says is intentional and when something he says just tumbles out on accident. What he says next is the latter: “We should take a class together next semester.”

“Sure. AP Stats? AP Calc?” Leon jokes, just to lighten the mood. It works; the tight line of Raihan’s lips relax. “C’mon, your classes are way too much work. I actually _want_ to enjoy high school!”

“That’s _why_ I’m saying we should take a class together,” Raihan says. Pointedly. He squeezes Leon’s hand like he can send a message through it. “I’ll take something stupid, like dance. You sign up for it too.” 

“Dance sounds…fun,” Leon reluctantly admits, groaning. Worse yet, he can totally see himself and Raihan learning how to waltz or tango or foxtrot. Leon was good at physical things like that, and it _did_ sound fun seeing how Raihan would react to it. “Okay… Yes. Okay.”

“Then let’s do it!” Raihan laughs softly and starts leaning in slowly, and although Leon’s heart begins pounding in his ears the moment he realizes what Raihan’s about to do, it feels so natural. Raihan leans closer and closer, and just as soon as Leon’s about to receive his first kiss, there’s an awkward bump that takes them both a moment to process as the lid of Leon’s hat digging into Raihan’s bandana. 

Raihan’s hooded eyes snap wide, and he whips back so instantly that his neck pops from whiplash. They both hold their breath, and Raihan awkwardly scrambles away like eggs and potatoes. “Um, later!”

-

For a second, it had seemed to Leon, he’d even _hoped_ , that Raihan was about to kiss him.

-

There’s still five minutes to kill. Leon feels lonely and lost without Raihan there, even if he’s already in front of the door of his next class.

-

In truth, Leon is starting to suspect Raihan might have a crush on him. It’s not the locker room incident or the way Raihan almost _(almost!)_ kissed Leon the other day. In fact it’s not until the next Monday that Leon realizes maybe the nice things Raihan does aren’t just to be nice and maybe Raihan does nice things _because_ he likes Leon. Leon even outlines the reasons in his notebook, which remain the only proper notes he’s ever taken in the ratty thing. 

-

The first reason he writes the following week after school: _‘Raihan doesn’t complain about driving me back and forth.’_

Leon bites his bottom lip and taps his eraser against the lines of his notebook. That was a good start, right? It’s true that Raihan hadn’t once complained about having to drive Leon to or from school. He was all too eager to wake up thirty minutes earlier and head home later than usual. Admittedly Leon had told Raihan how long it’d be that his mom planned to keep his car, but Raihan showed up like clockwork the following Monday, grinning at Leon and telling him to hop in.

Leon erases what he wrote and rewrites: _‘Raihan likes driving me around.’_

-

He writes the second reason under a new bullet point a few days later: _‘Raihan wants to hold my hand.’_

Leon has to think about this one, just to make sure he’s not exaggerating. Raihan had a habit of leaving his hand in the console in between his and Leon’s seat, palm turned upright. Leon knew that Raihan held his hand to make sure he didn’t get lost when they were out and about, but there’s no way he’d think that Leon could possibly get lost in his own truck. It was like he was waiting for Leon to take his hand, and every so often, Raihan would pull it back a little self-consciously. 

But then yesterday Leon had started taken pity on Raihan and his hand, and he placed his hand over Raihan’s before he could pull it back. Raihan had slipped his fingers between Leon’s, and laced them together with a squeeze. Ever since then, Raihan would thumb over the soft web of skin between Leon’s thumb and forefinger during their rides back and forth.

So if he’s going to write that as a bullet point, then he figures he needs to be honest about it. He erases the word, _‘wants,’_ and replaces it with, _‘likes.’_ Rereading the revised sentence over, Leon lets out a groan that makes his insides feel like they’re crumbling in on himself. He _has_ to be reading too much into this.

-

The next day gives Leon something else to add to his list during Texts and Comp. On a new bullet point, Leon writes: _‘Raihan checks me out.’_

Raihan and Leon were touchy to begin with, but Raihan’s way of helping Leon out of his truck was objectively too touchy to just be friendly. Every time he helped Leon out, he’d touch Leon’s hips or thighs or spoon against Leon’s backside as he closed the door. They’d always been physically comfortable with each other, but Leon really sees the difference when Raihan holds a door open for a freshman. When Raihan holds the door open for Leon, his eyes drag down Leon’s entire body, but for the freshman, he just nods curtly. 

Now that Leon thinks about it, Leon looked over his shoulder the last time he crawled into Raihan’s truck, only to see Raihan smiling at eye-level with Leon’s butt. Leon decides that warrants its own bullet point: _‘Raihan checks out my butt.’_

As soon as he’s done jotting that note, Piers pushes a hand against his forehead. “What are you doing?”

“Checking t’ see if you’re sick,” Piers says flatly. “You’re actually _writing_ in class, y’know.”

“Oh, this isn’t classwork,” Leon says, turning the notebook over to show Piers his list. “I’m just making a list to figure out if Raihan likes me or not.” 

“Never mind. You’re not sick, just an idiot as usual.” Piers fake gags as Leon keeps shading in a heart that has his and Raihan’s initials written inside of it. 

-

Leon’s last reason isn’t something he writes in his notebook. This last reason is something that might even be a little bit of Leon’s fault: “How come you’re still letting Raihan drive you to school?” Hop asks.

Leon winces, because it’s a very, very good question, really. He can’t even claim it’s more convenient, and Hop’s eyes narrow on him.

“My friend’s older sister says _everybody_ has seen you come to school together,” Hop continues, and Leon swallows.

Because that was the problem; Leon _liked_ everybody noticing them together.

-

But Raihan _can’t_ like him. Because Raihan doesn’t like guys.

-

Right?

-

In between the haze of trying to pass his classes and figure out Raihan’s weird behaviors, Leon had let his first true love, football, slip by him. Coach has been talking about the Homecoming game for weeks, but it doesn’t feel real until the student council hangs the Homecoming banner in the lunchroom. 

“Who are you voting for?” Raihan asks before they split to their respective team tables. 

Leon looks in the direction Raihan gestures to with his chin, where the Homecoming King and Queen ballot boxes are already set out on a table on the podium.

“Um.” Leon knows there’s a tradition to this from his old school. Only seniors are allowed to be nominated for Homecoming court. Even if it’s a throwaway vote, Leon knows the name he’s going to write on his ballot is going to be, ‘Raihan Kibana.’

-

“Do you know what you’re going to wear for Spirit Week?” Raihan asks in between classes. “We should try to coordinate.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Leon agrees absentmindedly. He’d agreed to it like he was agreeing to Coke over Pepsi, but the moment Leon seriously imagines himself and Raihan walking into school in matching outfits, Leon makes a really split second, really stupid decision: he’s going to ask Raihan out to Homecoming.

-

There’s only one little problem. Leon’s not sure if Raihan is even into guys in the first place. He can’t very well ask Raihan, and Leon doesn’t want to ask people who don’t know him well enough. But nobody seems to really _know_ Raihan, not the way Leon does. So Leon turns to the people he trusts:

“Do you think Raihan is gay?” Leon asks Piers wistfully during their shared class. 

When Piers doesn’t answer, Leon’s about to ask again and looks up, confronted with Piers staring at him like he’s just asked the stupidest question in the world.

-

Leon waits until P.E. to ask anybody else, wondering out loud to Gordie as they take turns holding each other’s feet down for sit ups. “Do you think Raihan is gay?”

Gordie immediately slips, fretting as he returns to position. “Uhh, I mean, he’s never come out.”

Leon frowns, but he doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to the physical side of it, rearranging his palms over Gordie’s sneakers and leaning his weight onto them. “Oh…”

“That doesn’t mean he isn’t!” Gordie assures, his voice breaking at the very end. He does another sit up and remains upright this time, leaning in to whisper, “I mean, aren’t you two…?” 

Leon’s frown grows deeper. “Aren’t we what?”

“Nothing!” Gordie shouts, equal parts aggressive and awkward. He drags a hand down his face, shaking his head. “Oh man… It’s not my place to say…”

-

Unsure who else to ask, Leon walks straight up to Nessa and asks, “is Raihan gay?”

“That’s Raihan’s business,” she says coolly. Unlike everybody else, she isn’t phased by the question, and closes her locker to face Leon properly. “But I can say this: you’re an idiot. That’s why Raihan and I didn’t work out. He likes idiots, and I am not.”

-

“That’s a big sigh,” Raihan teases, when Leon lets out another weathering sigh. Some days later, and Leon hasn’t come any closer to figuring out whether or not Raihan likes boys. Specifically, whether or not Raihan likes _him_. Leon just shrugs his shoulders. He can’t let Raihan know his worries when Raihan is the source of them, so he just wiggles his fingertips over the tabletop, where his and Raihan’s hands are touching, which has become a common, confusing occurence for Leon.

“I’m fine,” he insists, comparing the size of their hands. He pushes their palms together and stretches out their fingers, frowning at the way Raihan’s fingertips loom over the tips of his, and they push each other’s fingers back and forth until eventually Raihan laces their fingers together and presses their palms back against the table.

Leon frowns. Maybe he should just ask Raihan out anyway. The worst that could happen is Raihan turns him down, and then they won’t be friends anymore, and then Leon won’t ever get to hug him again, and then— Leon pops more fries in his mouth to stop himself from sighing dramatically again. He eats a handful in annoyance, his focus changing from the distant skyline to Raihan’s reflection when he stares out of the window.

“Hey,” Raihan says, and Leon tears his gaze away from Raihan’s reflection in the window to look at him. Raihan gestures to the table, where he’s spelled out _‘Homecoming?’_ in chicken nuggets. 

“Yes!” Leon blurts, before he can stop himself, while throwing himself over the table to hug Raihan, a few of the nuggets and fries clattering to the floor.

-

First thing after hopping out of the truck, they beeline to the gaudy booths decorated in cheap, reflective garland and a, “Homecoming Dance Tickets,” banner hand-painted by the student climate committee. The sign on the table, which looks just as haphazard as the banner, tells Leon tickets are twenty bucks a pop per person and thirty-five per couple. He pulls out a crisp twenty and hands it to the committee member. So it comes as a surprise when Raihan pulls out his wallet and lays down an extra ten and five. 

It’s a tense moment when the committee member running the booth looks at them both nervously and down at the money. Leon almost thinks there’s going to be another problem, but she tenders the cash in exchange for two matching tickets in their school colors. 

“Enjoy the dance,” she says meekly, just as Raihan bumps Leon’s shoulder with a toothy grin. Leon holds his ticket like it’s a Heisman, jaw hanging at the, ‘Homecoming Dance: Couples Ticket,’ printed in bold, capital letters. 

Raihan fans his ticket next to Leon’s and snaps a quick pic, which Leon later sees posted on Instagram and Facebook with matching captions that say, _‘He said yes!!!’_

-

Over the weekend, Leon gives Sonia a long overdue call. He’ll eventually have to tell his mom and Hop and everybody else that he and Raihan are going to Homecoming as more than just friends, but he wants Sonia to be the first one to know. He bites his lip as the line rings, but he can _feel_ her smile at the first cheerful sound she makes over the line.

“Hey, Lee! I’m surprised _you’re_ the one calling _me,”_ she teases lightly, and Leon blushes, knowing he’s been so caught up in himself that he hasn’t been so great at keeping up. “It’s been awhile! How’s Raihan doing?”

“He’s good,” Leon says politely and confused. It’s weird she’d ask about Raihan before himself, he thinks, but no matter. Raihan is the main reason he called her in the first place: “He asked me out to Homecoming.”

“Cool.”

…Well, now. That’s not exactly the response Leon expected. He expected more shocked gasping and mutual hurrahing. Leon takes a deep breath before clarifying. “Not as a group or anything. Like, as a couple.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sonia says in the same, factual manner she spoke before. “I saw his Insta already.”

It makes Leon’s face scrunch up. “You know?” 

“Well, yeah.” On the other side of her line, Sonia laughs, and it only confuses Leon more and more. 

“Oh.” Leon leans back against his bedpost and looks up at the fan spinning on his ceiling. He focuses on one blade and watches the movement slow down, tracking it as he sorts his thoughts. “I was pretty surprised! I didn’t think he’d…”

“You didn’t think he’d ask you out to Homecoming?” This time Sonia is the one who sounds confused. 

“Well I wasn’t sure,” Leon confesses, leaving out the, ‘if he liked me or not,’ part, “but I think this is a date.”

“Huh,” Sonia says, her voice trailing off. “But I thought you two were already dating?”

-

Leon thinks about what Sonia said all weekend. He thinks about it before going to bed. He thinks about it while showering. He thinks about it during breakfast, while hanging out at Raihan’s house, and at weekend practice. It’s like an itch he can’t scratch, digging beneath his skin and buzzing every time Raihan looks at him. It creeps beneath his nails every time Raihan smiles and takes Leon’s hand in his own. It settles deep into his muscles every time Raihan laughs at him or they split a dessert. 

_‘But I thought you two were already dating?’_ repeats over and over in his head, making Leon blush and second guess every motion he makes.

It especially echoes in his head on Sunday night, as Raihan holds his hand steady and pulls him up and down the aisles at Walmart. Raihan wanted to grab any last-minute things they need for Spirit Week’s themed outfit days in the upcoming week, but Leon knows that’s an excuse because they already have their coordinating outfits planned and prepared for each of the days. _Even if_ Raihan wanted to grab anything they missed for their outfits, it certainly wouldn’t be in the clearance home department section, where Raihan’s currently admiring some paint. “This shade matches your bed sheets perfectly. If you want to redo your walls.”

Before Sonia pointed it out, Leon would have accepted that offer as the kind of thoughtful, do-it-yourself project Raihan seemed to like doing in Leon’s home every other weekend. But now that he’s considering that he might be _dating_ Raihan… Leon buries his face in his hands, unable to stop cringing from how hard he’s blushing. “I don’t need to redo my walls!”

“Ah, alright,” Raihan says, a bit disappointedly, as he puts the paint back. 

“Let’s just— go,” Leon says tightly. He doesn’t mean for it to come across as so harsh, but he doesn’t know how to deal with all these new, tingly feelings. It feels too raw and too intense, and when he sees one of the golf team members staring at them from an aisle away, he starts to feel embarrassed at how _stupid_ he is for not realizing Raihan wanted to walk around Walmart because it’s the place _everybody_ brings their dates on Sunday nights.

Which again begs the question: _are_ they dating?

-

No, that’s silly. Leon would have noticed if they were.

-

Still, when Raihan frowns worriedly at Leon over the console, he offers his hand turned face-up, and he only relaxes when Leon slips his fingers in between his, their hands slotting palm-to-palm.

-

Spirit Week kicks off that Monday, and it’s much easier to focus on the fun of it all than awkward questions of, ‘are we?’ or ‘are we not?’ Leon and Raihan arrive in their matching, ‘I’m on the nice list,’ and ‘I’m on the naughty list,’ sweaters for ugly sweater day, decked out in gaudily knitted patterns of red, green, and white. 

“I like your sweater,” Raihan says, and Leon looks at him like it’s the first time Raihan’s ever teased him. In a way, it is. Raihan’s always had a habit of teasing him, but Leon notices all the small details of it, like the way Raihan’s long eyelashes bat and the way his smile tugs too broadly to simply be friendly. Leon realizes, for the first time, that Raihan doesn’t just like Leon’s sweater, he _like-_ likes Leon’s sweater. 

“I like your sweater, too,” Leon says back, meaning it in the same way.

-

They hold hands on the way to the pep rally that kicks off Spirit Week, and the pep must have already infected Raihan, because he swings their hands back and forth, smiling wider than usual. 

“You’re in a good mood,” Leon observes.

“I don’t know! It’s something about today. You’re cuter than usual,” Raihan says easily, and Leon’s face immediately flushes. “See! That’s what I’m talking about! You’re getting all shy like you were when we first met.”

Is he? Leon hadn’t been overthinking it before, but he certainly is now. The only difference is that his reactions before were without knowing that he might or might not be dating his best friend. 

Apparently his reaction now isn’t as cute, because Raihan squeezes the hand between them, and leans close enough to bump Leon’s cheek with his nose. “Aww, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. You’re always cute. You’re just… _extra_ cute today.”

Leon lets out a strangled moan, but moves to bump his nose against Raihan’s. If they’re dating, then it’s no big deal, right?

-

Leon hits the bathroom before the pep rally begins, leaving Raihan to find a seat for them. After he’s done his business, he hears some girls gossiping in their bathroom around the corner. Though Leon knows it’s wrong to eavesdrop, he presses himself against the wall to listen. It’s not like the girls were speaking discreetly anyway.

“I thought it was just Leon who was gay, but Raihan is too. I heard they’re dating now,” the first voice says.

“Really?” a second, shocked, voice says back.

“Yeah.”

“Aww, good for them! I think they’re cute,” the second voice says, and Leon feels his cheeks heat up. He’s always tried to block out the hushed whispers that he never stopped to think about how it actually looked to other people, besides all the cruel words that sometimes bit at his pride.

“I guess? It’s still a little gross. They’re both guys,” the first voice says, and Leon’s heart sinks again. Because there it was, all the truth raw and bared to be seen. “And they’re both hot. Like what a bummer.”

“It’s cool that we finally have gays, though. Think about it! Maybe we can invite them over for makeovers. Like on Queer Eye.”

Leon decides he’s heard enough, and he turns the corner, trying not to glare but finding it really hard not to. If it was just about himself, he might be more forgiving, but Raihan doesn’t deserve to get dragged into this kind of rumor. “You shouldn’t gossip about other people.”

“O-Ohmygod,” one of the girls peeps, while the other grabs her by the shoulder and pulls her into the bathroom for more privacy. Even when Leon starts walking away, he can hear them bickering at each other, rudely accusing each other for screwing up instead of considering maybe they’re both at fault.

-

Raihan saves Leon a seat in the second row of the gym bleachers by manspreading, but he squeezes his thighs together to make space for Leon. Leon sighs long and hard, which is difficult to do when Raihan looks all dopey at Leon’s return. To make matters worse, Raihan starts playing with his hair, dipping his face closer and asking worriedly, “why the long face, champ?”

Leon looks down at his hands and wonders if it’s worth telling Raihan. No doubt Raihan would get upset by it too. “There’s a rumor about us. Dating.”

Just like Leon expected, Raihan’s face droops, but it’s not for the reasons Leon expected. “It’s not a big deal.” 

“I don’t want you getting dragged into this kind of thing. People are mean,” Leon explains, as their principal takes the mic and begins to make opening remarks. It’s not fair that the world can’t see him and Raihan as anything more than a campy box as seen on TV. Leon doesn’t even know how to apply lipstick, though he figures he could do it if he really tried.

Raihan shifts a bit awkwardly, mouth wiggling and shifting until it settles into a determined line. When his eyes meet Leon’s, they’re the most sincere Leon’s ever seen. “I don’t care what they say about us.”

It sounds like a promise and it makes Leon’s heart clench. 

“I like you,” Leon says impulsively, because it’s true. He’s never liked Raihan more than in this moment, and he holds Raihan’s hand in a bone-crushing hold as they stand to sing the Star Spangled Banner with the rest of the school. Raihan doesn’t say, ‘I know,’ or, ‘I like you too.’ He just squeezes Leon’s hand and sings alongside him, completely off-key and with all the shamelessness he has when he belts out their favorite songs in the car. 

-

The pep rally is long and fun, and Leon doesn’t mind missing Texts and Comp if it means he gets to hold Raihan’s hand and cuddle up against his ugly sweater for the better part of an hour. They sing and clap along with the familiar songs Nessa and last year’s cheerleading captain perform to, and the band is in top form as well, the drums pumping beats right into Leon’s chest. Of course, the pep rally is over sooner than Leon would prefer, and the entire school is corralled back into classes.

Raihan walks him to his next class, as usual, but Leon spies the two girls from earlier and decides to confront them, since he didn’t think to ask who started that rumor in the first place. “I’ll be right back,” he says, breaking away from Raihan.

Both girls notice Leon immediately, and watch him with equal expressions of dread and bewilderment as he approaches.

“That rumor you were talking about earlier. Who told you?” Leon demands, crossing his arms. 

“Raihan told us. _Duh,”_ the first one says. She grabs her friend again and runs away before Leon can ask anything else.

In part, that was Leon’s fault, since he was too shocked to respond properly. The girls looked too spooked to be lying, but it leaves Leon even more confused. He walks back to Raihan’s side almost in a daze and accepts Raihan’s offered hand more as an autopilot response.

“Everything alright?” Raihan asks worriedly, cocking his head to the side.

“Just peachy,” Leon says, confused.

-

If it was just one incident, then maybe Leon could understand. But it happens again at lunch, when one of the seniors, a wide receiver, turns to Leon, smiles like he’s doing Leon a real big favor, and says, “I saw you hanging out with Raihan at Walmart yesterday. You might wanna stay away from him or else you’ll give people the wrong idea.”

The table splits evenly, half nodding in agreement, and half balking in open offense. Before Leon can shoot back a retort, his team is already leaning in and fighting each other verbally and physically in that way they dare not include Leon, all friendly and careless touches. 

“Dude!” one linebacker corrects, “that _is_ his boyfriend! What wrong idea is there to be had?”

Boyfriend. Even his _team_ thinks Raihan is his boyfriend. The thought consumes Leon, and he can only hold his spork halfway between his tray and his mouth as he processes this, a blob of soggy chicken paté slapping back onto the tray. 

The debate continues without him, though. Somebody laughs, “no waaay, Raihan’s gay?” while another smacks him on the shoulder and scoffs, “why else would Nessa dump him?”

“Why _wouldn’t_ Nessa dump him?” a third challenges, and it spirals out of Leon’s control.

“He’s definitely too close to Leon to not be into him.”

“Yeah, but I bet lots of guys would go gay for Leon. So like, maybe he’s a fake gay?”

“No, it’s definitely the Nessa thing. He’s never had a girlfriend other than Nessa, right?”

“You never bounce back after getting dumped by Nessa, man,” the table seems to conclude. They laugh and punch each other’s shoulders and joke around with grins, the topic shifting to something else entirely. It’s as though Leon dating Raihan is as interesting as the pimple their safety has on his left asscheek, both topics raising raucous laughter and disagreement and passing just as quickly in interest. 

-

“What if I _am_ dating Raihan?” Leon asks his team just as the lunch bell rings. Some of them grab their trays and leave, again split with encouraging thumbs up or judging grimaces. 

“At least we’d know you’re not staring at _our_ asses,” one of his teammates cracks.

The reaction both relieves and agitates Leon. If his team wasn’t cool with it, they definitely wouldn’t joke about it, but it’s still no way to joke about Leon or anybody else, for that matter. It’s uncalled for, but Leon grabs his tray to dump it alongside them, assuring, “you don’t have to worry about that. I like men, not boys.”

-

Spirit Week has athletic games running all week long, and the lacrosse team’s is the first up in the schedule. Leon has to skip practice to go to it, which is an easier ordeal than Leon expected it to be. Coach doesn’t even ask why he’s skipping out on a practice, just grunts a, “make sure we win, Leon.” 

It feels exhilarating to play hookey, even if his coach has permitted it. As he looks for a comfortable spot in the stands, the attacker’s girlfriend from a different school waves him over and pats the empty bleacher beside her. “Hey, Leon! Come sit with us.”

“Oh, hey!” he says, making small talk as he takes the offered seat. The goalie’s girlfriend is also there, discussing plans to make a team banner when lacrosse season starts up officially, and they fold Leon into it without missing a beat.

There’s talk of matching shirts and lining up with a letter on each of their shirts to spell, ‘Galar,’ “since there’s finally five of us with Leon now.” The other girlfriends nod their heads solemnly, adding, “we don’t have to awkwardly hold up a sign for the last letter anymore.” It’s a unanimous decision, all of them looking right at Leon: “You can be the L. L for Leon. Plus, it’ll look balanced with having you in the middle and two girls on both sides.” 

It might just be Leon, but he feels a little bit closer to everybody this time. After agreeing on the team shirts, a different attacker’s family offers him homemade cookies out of some tupperware, and Leon munches on the oatmeal raisin goodness as the crowd slowly expands to include more families, more friends, and more cooking. They practically have a small buffet going on by the time the lacrosse team properly emerges for their game, and Leon’s only sad that he didn’t think to bring anything. 

“Just bring a pack of Coke next time,” the attacker’s girlfriend says, “that’s what I did when I first started coming to games.”

No sooner than said, she turns to shouting out her boyfriend’s name, and this time when Raihan waves at him from the field, Leon shouts his name out too. 

-

Nobody asks who Leon’s waiting for outside the lockers this time, and they don’t even bat an eyelash when Leon pushes himself against Raihan in a running tackle the moment Raihan emerges from the locker room. Leon’s eyes aren’t anywhere but on Raihan’s, both of their gazes dancing with adrenaline and want. 

“Was I cool?” Raihan asks.

“The _coolest,”_ Leon says, his arms snaking around Raihan’s waist to press them together. 

-

Raihan doesn’t ask if Leon wants to come to their post-victory dinner. He just slips his hands inside of Leon’s, and they start walking to Denny’s in amicable silence. They lean against each other, both of them smiling too broadly to form words. Every now and then their eyes meet while doing figure eights, only to look away with giddy, shy smiles.

Eventually it’s Leon who stops playing with his hair and squeezing Raihan’s hand anxiously, and Raihan stops when Leon stops. They face each other, the air strangely relaxed even when Leon pulls his hand free. “Are we dating?”

Raihan breathes, his eyes dipping to the side, like he’s actually thinking about it. “We go on dates.” 

Leon cocks his head, and Raihan cocks his to match. Somehow the seriousness is still there, beneath all their blushing cheeks tugging too hard across their faces. “So we’re boyfriends?”

“We don’t need to put a label on it,” Raihan offers, but Leon shakes his head.

“I want a boyfriend,” Leon says, grabbing both of Raihan’s hands and giving them a squeeze. His face is flushed and he knows his skin must look patchy and red, but he doesn’t even care. He’s smiling so hard that he can’t even fight it down, the sappy feelings bubbling up to his cheeks as he confesses, “I want _you.”_

Raihan squeezes Leon’s hands back, bumping his forehead against Leon’s. “Alright. We can call it boyfriends, then.”

“Okay,” Leon says, his nose tapping against Raihan’s, and they begin walking toward Denny’s once again.

-

Boyfriend. 

Raihan is his _boyfriend_.

Leon always imagined that the day he’d have a boyfriend, he’d be a gooey mess of feelings and embarrassment, but it feels completely natural slipping into the familiar seats he and Raihan always claim. He feels more aware of himself and his proximity to Raihan, sure, and the butterflies don’t exactly die down, but none of the nervousness or awkwardness ever come. Nobody seems to even recognize a change, nodding and passing greetings as usual.

His hand slips easily into Raihan’s and rests over Raihan’s knee, where Raihan plays with it as the rest of his team talks about the highest and lowest moments of their game. Leon pinches Raihan’s fingers a few times because Raihan pinches him back, and Leon still can’t believe that Raihan is his _boyfriend._

Boyfriend, boyfriend, _boyfriend_. Leon repeats that word over and over in his head, cuddling up to Raihan’s side and blushing for minutes on end whenever he momentarily forgets and remembers. He wants to be clingy and boyfriend-y and broadcast his relationship to the entire restaurant, but by the way everybody smiles at him and Raihan together or refers to them as a unit, it’s like everybody already knows.

Pulling Raihan down by the sleeve to whisper into his ear, Leon insists, “we should act more like a couple.” 

“Please don’t,” Raihan’s goalie whispers back from across them. “You two are already the most obnoxious couple I’ve ever met.”

-

The entire dinner is like a dream. The entire walk back to the parking lot is like walking on a cloud. The entire drive home is like a picture perfect ending to a romantic movie. Leon doesn’t even open his doors anymore, Raihan practically scooping him out of his truck and walking him hand-in-hand to the front porch. It’s not until they’re facing each other in front of Leon’s screen door that Leon notices, perhaps not first the first time, if he’s honest, that Raihan’s staring right at his mouth and twitching his lips like he’s holding himself back from puckering up.

“You should kiss me,” Leon dares, grabbing Raihan by the waist and tugging him flush against his body. 

“Should I now?” Raihan whispers, voice low and resounding from his chest into Leon’s. It sends shivers up Leon’s spine.

“Yeah.” Leon squeezes Raihan’s hip, the other trailing up Raihan’s stomach as Raihan leans closer and closer. His hand stops on the emblem of Raihan’s hoodie, where Raihan’s heart pounds hard enough to move Leon’s palm up and down. Leon closes his eyes, tilts his face, and pushes his lips together, focusing on their hearts beating as a single thump, thump, thump. Leon can smell the omelette Raihan ate earlier with his l face so close to his, and he swallows down a small moan as he finally, _finally_ feels Raihan’s lips press against his…cheek? 

Leon blinks, then blinks again, as Raihan’s face pulls away, a shit-eating grin clearly in view. “You alright there, champ?”

“You—” Leon chokes out, a frustrated whine stuffed in his throat. But two can play at that game, and Leon grabs Raihan by the collar, pushing his lips against Raihan’s nose. 

It’s none too gentle, and their faces smash together ineloquently, but Raihan growls, “tease,” while planting a kiss to Leon’s forehead, and Leon grunts back, “you first,” as he steals another kiss from Raihan’s chin. 

In a matter of minutes, their faces are shiny with wet, albeit chaste, closed-lip kisses. They try to keep kissing even when the laughing starts, and Leon feels more teeth than lips against his cheek with the next handful of Raihan’s kisses. 

Shoving and pushing against each other, they find a simple rhythm that eventually finds themselves pressed nose-to-nose, rocking against each other so closely that all it would take is a little bit of wind to finally kiss in that way Leon’s dreamed about since he realized he likes boys. Raihan leans in, Leon gasps, and just when Raihan’s lips ghost over Leon’s, there’s a peeped, “Oh! I— I’m sorry!” and the snap of the screen door makes both of their shoulders jolt. Raihan’s lips press against Leon’s beard instead of his lips. 

“I peeked through the blinds and saw Raihan and— I just wanted to ask if you’d like to stay over for dinner, son,” Leon’s mom continues to ramble, pointedly looking away from them both. She nearly closes the door, talking from behind it. “I made some meatloaf for dinner. Is meatloaf halal? If not, I can whip something up for you. Just— Come in whenever you’re ready for dinner, boys.”

There’s an awkward silence as the door remains hanging open, a crack of light making a stark line on the porch, and Raihan’s shoulders tremble from trying not to laugh. Half of Leon wants to bust out laughing and the other half wants to cry. In the end, he tugs on Raihan’s hand and holds the doors open for his boyfriend for once. “Come on. Otherwise my mom’s never going to let me live this down.”

They hold hands, walking into Leon’s house with obvious smiles.

-

Tuesday’s theme is Twin Day, and Leon loves it from the moment he slides into Raihan’s truck and sees Raihan decked out in a Batman costume that came straight out of a plastic bag. Both of his hands slap over his mouth to stop the laugh that blurts out anyway, but the costume looks so _ridiculous_ on him.

“I love your abs,” Leon teases in between snorts, and Raihan fakes a flex, his real abs hidden beneath all the puffed out padding shaped into obviously fake muscles. 

“I know, they’re so sexy,” Raihan mocks, himself laughing as he rolls them out of Leon’s driveway. His sleeves are so short that the better half of his forearms are showing, and Leon can see Raihan’s ankles when he leans over the console. 

“They are,” Leon agrees in full seriousness, though he bites his lips shut to keep himself from laughing. “You look…good.” 

Raihan rolls his eyes, but his smile is fond. “Not all of us are built like a brick house, babe.”

“Mm,” Leon agrees, holding his hand out for Raihan to take it. “Doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you’re built perfectly for me.”

 _“Man,_ we’re gross,” Raihan moans, but he doesn’t look the least bit sorry. He squeezes Leon’s hand a bit tighter. “I love us.”

-

Raihan’s Batman abs might be fake, but Leon pets them all day long as if they were the real deal.

-

“I love _your_ abs,” Raihan purrs, stroking Leon’s spandex-covered stomach between classes. Leon holds his breath and tries not to squirm. Unlike Raihan, his costume doesn’t have padding, but the costume shows off Leon’s real muscles in true-to-the-advertising likeness. He could barely squeeze into it as is, and some parts, like the Superman shield across the chest, stretch so much that it leaves little lines where the color of his skin peeks through. Raihan pets them every chance he gets.

-

They stick out like a sore thumb amid all the lowkey costumes. Besides a few homemade M&M costumes, most everybody else is wearing identical outfits with their twin. Last year’s homecoming king and queen opt for simple, matching outfits with a single accent color, and the bolder kids have matching shirts themed with peanut butter and jelly or Netflix and chill. 

Leon’s a big fan of his and Raihan’s costumes, even if they are a little over-the-top. Raihan takes some selfies of them posing in their costumes, and they coo at them while deciding which to set as their wallpapers and lock screens. There’s a cute one where they’re puffing out their chests to show off the superhero logos, and another where Leon’s mid-blink and Raihan’s kissing Leon’s bangs. Raihan and Leon bicker over which one is the best; Raihan likes the one where they’re holding their hands in the shape of a heart, and Leon’s favorite one is of them looking at each other with open adoration in profile view. None of them end up on Instagram or Facebook.

-

“You and Raihan are twins today, right?” Gordie asks during their warm-up jog in P.E. 

Leon grins. Just remembering Raihan gives him an extra boost of energy, and he has to hold himself back from sprinting ahead. “Yeah! Did you see our costumes?

“Just in passing,” Gordie says. They turn a corner before he asks something else. “Isn’t that weird?”

“No?” Batman and Superman was a classic duo costume. If it was Batman and Robin, then it might be a little weird, but Leon figures it’s fine. “Why would it be?”

“Calling it twins when you’re dating?”

“We’re—” He’s about to end that with, ‘not dating,’ out of reflex, but he realizes that isn’t exactly the case anymore. “Oh. I guess so…?” 

“You could just say it’s matchy,” his friend offers. “That’s a cute thing for couples.”

-

In the evening, Raihan and Leon wait outside the auditorium with canned beans and SpaghettiOs to donate instead of the two dollar entrance for Movie Night. The school isn’t allowed to show anything that isn’t rated PG, and Raihan informs Leon this is fifth year in the row that Galar High has screened Napoleon Dynamite during Spirit Week. It’s only excusable because the movie is also a slumber party of sorts, and everybody in line has a pillow tucked beneath their arm or blankets wrapped around their shoulders like ponchos. They’re changed into matching Batman and Superman-themed PJ bottoms and plain white tees, a nod to their earlier outfits, but Leon pets Raihan’s abs as though he were still wearing his costume.

In the auditorium, they choose a spot far enough from the screen to hear each other if they decide to talk, and set up their blankets and pillows until it looks like a nest overgrown with white cotton. Raihan doesn’t even make an excuse of yawning to wrap an arm around Leon’s shoulders, and Leon tucks his head beneath Raihan’s chin like he was made to fit beneath it. They cuddle and banter as the rest of the school slowly filters in, the auditorium floor becoming mere cracks between all the blankets and pillows eating up the space. 

As soon as the lights turn off, Leon’s reminded of the first time they saw a movie, all tucked together like they are now. The movie doesn’t distract him from the real excitement this time, acutely aware of Raihan’s fingers playing with the hem of his shirt and his bangs. Every now and then when nobody’s looking, Raihan blows little puffs of air against Leon’s ear. 

It begins slowly with Raihan just petting his chest or playing with the tips of Leon’s hair, but within the first fifteen minutes, Raihan’s small touches and whispers have Leon sitting upright and squirming in place. Little sparks of pleasure shoot up his back and settle in the heat pooling low in his stomach, where Raihan rubs little circles into his skin. In a particularly slow scene in the movie, Raihan bites on Leon’s earlobe, and Leon lets out an embarrassingly loud squeak that has everybody turning to stare. Raihan has the audacity to push his face between Leon’s shoulder blades and laugh, while Leon suffers their judgemental glares. Realizing that he can’t even concentrate on _that_ , Leon comes to the realization he hasn’t been able to focus on the movie since it started.

“Raihan,” Leon says pointedly, turning around to sit in his boyfriend’s lap, “can we get out of here?”

Eyes dark and blown in the bright light of the screen, Raihan nods wordlessly. 

-

“My parents aren’t expecting me home until the movie is over,” Raihan says, urgency straining his voice as he pulls out of the parking lot, “but they’re home, so we can’t go there.”

“My mom’s home, too,” Leon says just as tightly. He’s holding Raihan’s hand so tightly that Raihan’s knuckles start to turn white. “Umm. We could just put the blankets in the back and—?”

 _“Yes,”_ Raihan says, flooring the gas and driving in the opposite direction of both of their homes.

-

Raihan ends up turning on the third exit of the highway and pulling to the side of the road once the road is out of sight in the rearview mirror. They bust out of the truck like popped seams, and immediately load up the bed with all their blankets and pillows Raihan still has stuffed in the back of the cab. It takes exactly three minutes to set up, and Leon pushes Raihan back-first against the flatbed and straddles his hips as soon as the blankets are layered.

This is Raihan’s favorite spot, Leon knows, because Raihan’s driven him here, cupped his cheek, and played with his hair dozens of times before. Leon, for one, is determined to make up for lost time, pushing his face into Raihan’s neck and stamping kisses up to his ear, sticking his tongue inside and aggressively pulling Raihan closer by his shirt. 

“Calm down, champ!” Raihan laughs. His hands cup Leon’s cheeks and drain Leon’s impulsive urge to lick Raihan’s skin right off his body. He rolls them both onto their sides and inches so close that Leon’s breath stutters. One hand slips over Leon’s hip and strokes long stripes up and down his back, setting an easy, gentle rhythm that has Leon sighing and squirming to its beat. “Don’t worry, handsome. We got all the time in the world.”

Leon moans at the nicknames, feeling way too easy at the way his insides squirm and flare up with heat and want. He wants to spread his legs and grind against what Raihan is packing and— Raihan thumbs at Leon’s beard, making Leon feel like jelly in Raihan’s big hands. They stare at each other, both breathing heavily, and Leon bucks against Raihan when his hands still. 

“Don’t stop,” he whines.

“I’m just…waiting,” Raihan whispers, like the moment will break if he speaks any louder. His thumb rubs up and down the edge of Leon’s lip, tracing the seam down the middle and thumbing just enough to watch Leon’s bottom lip spring free from the pressure.

“For what?” Leon asks just before biting Raihan’s thumb. 

Raihan laughs, pulling his thumb away, but Leon chases it, kissing over his bites sweetly. He even tries to coax Raihan’s thumb into his mouth to show Raihan what a good time he’s missing out on, but Raihan keeps his thumb out of reach, barely petting Leon’s lips ever so gently. “Every time I try to kiss you, something comes up. So I’m waiting for it.”

Leon lets out a big sigh, and rolls onto his back. In retrospect, Raihan _might_ have a point, but it still leaves Leon frustrated. He rolls back into place, this time cupping Raihan’s jaw with new resolve and tugging their faces closer. “Well then, if I’m the one to kiss _you_ , then it should be fine, right?” and Leon leans in to kiss Raihan, perfect, soft, quiet, and the first of many.

-

An hour later and twenty minutes after the movie supposedly finished, Raihan finally drops Leon off, walking him up to the porch and kissing him chastely on the lips. Leon has a new hickey on his neck, and he can’t wait for what tomorrow will bring.

“It’s going to be hard to sleep tonight,” Leon confesses.

“You can think about me, if you want,” Raihan teases with a wink. “I’ll be thinking about you, for sure.”

-

Wednesday arrives in slow-winding, hump day fashion, so it’s a good thing all Leon has to do is roll out of bed and slump out of his house. Even that is almost impossible, considering Leon stayed up so late last night that he can barely keep his eyes open. He almost walks into a door while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and he can’t stop yawning to save his life. He loses his right slipper twice between the short distance between his front door and Raihan’s front passenger door.

“You look tired,” Raihan observes as Leon crawls into his truck. 

“No talking,” Leon mumbles with a dopey, sleepy grin, “just coffee.”

“No kissing either?” Raihan teases, leaning over the console.

Leon presses the rest of the way, pecking a small kiss on Raihan’s lips. “A little kissing is okay.”

-

It’s not until Leon’s properly caffeinated that he can appreciate the way Raihan’s bottoms hug his hips. Wednesday is their most subtle day, both of them clad in matching gingham print bottoms and shirts that say, ‘He’s my sweet potato,’ and, ‘I yam.’ Leon’s seen Raihan in his practice jerseys, but seeing him all wrinkled in PJs makes him look so soft and kissable. Even if Raihan _is_ wearing socks with sandals, Leon wants to run his hand through Raihan’s locs and nap right on top of him.

Leon chugs one long gulp of coffee that makes an angry, hollow sound when he continues sucking the empty cup. 

-

“Enjoy class, babe,” Raihan says outside of Leon’s Texts and Comp class, fluffing up Leon’s bedhead. His hand trails down to his neck, and Leon sees Raihan smirking at the spot he’s thumbing, just beneath Leon’s ear.

As their usual routine goes, Raihan’s about to turn on his heel and head to AP Chem when Leon tugs on his sleeve. “Wait.”

There’s always at least one couple hugging or kissing in the hallway, and Leon wants to be that couple for once. Technically speaking, both are against school policy, but the couples pushed against the lockers attest to how little regard everybody has for those particular rules. His hope, however, sours when he remembers the incident around his and Raihan’s lettermans.

Raihan patiently tilts his head, a little smirk on his lips. “Yeah?” 

Leon swallows and throws his caution to the wind. He tugs off his baseball cap by the bill and holds it up as a shield. It only takes a second to push onto his tiptoes and peck Raihan on the lips. 

The crowd around them keeps moving in a seamless clockwork, and Leon falls onto his heels with a satisfied grin mirrored on Raihan’s face.

-

“Holy _shit,”_ one of Leon’s teammates breathes the second Leon sets his tray down. “Did you get mauled or something?”

“Huh?” Leon says at exactly the same time when another teammate says, _“Or something_.” 

Leon looks around the table, some of his teammates frowning in agreement and nodding their heads sagely. He feels like he’s missing something until one of them gestures to his neck. “Raihan kept biting him during the movie, and they skipped out in, like, the first twenty minutes.”

“Ohmygod,” Leon squeaks, slapping a palm against his neck. His face immediately flushes and the heat spreads as he awkwardly runs right to Raihan, still cradling his hand against his neck. “Raihan. We need to talk. _Now.”_

“Ah,” Raihan says, eyes hooded and grin entirely shameless. “You finally noticed, huh?”

-

“I said you could leave a hickey, not eat me alive!” Leon whines, poking the purpling bruise in the mirror. His team wasn’t kidding; hickeys are cute, little love bites, but Raihan left a giant swell with teeth marks still indented in his skin. Leon had thought the sore lump was how hickeys were _supposed_ to feel. He didn’t know it’d be so noticeable, and he huffs and puffs at the mirror, trying to figure out how to cover it up. If it were a regular hickey, he could have covered it up with just a band-aid, but he’d need at least seven to cover up Raihan’s teeth marks and who walked around with seven bandaids in a patch?

“Just wear a scarf,” Raihan says. He snakes his arms around Leon’s hips and watches Leon’s reflection in the mirror hiss and sigh at the bruise. He even tries to kiss the wound, but Leon pushes his face away the second he sees Raihan bare his teeth again. “C’mon, lemme kiss you.”

“No! My team said it looks like I got mauled!” Leon pouts and moves away to his locker. He tosses out anything that isn’t helpful in his quest to cover up the love bite, barking out, “what am I going to tell my mom if she asks?”

“I got a hoodie in my locker. You can pull the hood up, and nobody will even notice.” Leon whines as Raihan pushes up against his back. He’s doing that thing that Leon’s recently come to realize turns his legs into jelly: parting his hair and kissing up the back of his neck. “So lemme kiss you a little more.”

“It better cover it up,” Leon grumbles, turning around to link his arms around Raihan’s shoulders and letting Raihan push him against the tiled wall.

-

The hoodie trick ends up working. Leon still pretends that he’s upset by it, just to coax apologetic kisses out of Raihan the entire day, but nobody says a word about Leon’s hickey or the fact he’s wearing Raihan’s hoodie.

“I wish I had a boyfriend hoodie,” he even hears somebody complain as he and Raihan walk down the hall holding hands.

-

On the bright side, it’s finally chilly enough to warrant the hood as they cheer for Galar’s baseball team later that evening. Leon’s self-consciousness starts to ebb by the bottom of the third inning, and though it’s neither his nor Raihan’s sport, they have a good time cheering for their school and watching the game anyway. During the top of the fifth, Raihan scoots out of the stands to buy Leon a hot chocolate and a pretzel for himself, but when he comes back, all he has are wide eyes and a nervous frown. “I, uh. I have to go. Something came up. An emergency.”

“Right _now?”_ Leon asks, though he’s more annoyed by Raihan forgetting about his hot chocolate than an emergency outside of Raihan’s control. “What happened?”

“I can’t really talk about it here,” Raihan says in a hushed voice, his eyes darting around the crowd. Nobody’s looking at them, but Leon senses that it has to be serious. “But, um. You can come. If you want.”

“Can we buy hot chocolate on the way?” Leon asks, already following Raihan out of the stands.

-

Leon cradles his hot chocolate and takes a sip as they walk toward the secondary field, where Leon hears Raihan’s team before he sees them. Sounds of shouting and cooing echo in the wings, and Leon slurps his hot chocolate with a raised brow as Raihan holds a silencing finger over his mouth. 

“We got it out of the pen just fine,” one of the attackers says, running right up to Raihan. “But then it started to kick the trailer and it—”

“Yeah, I know. It’s a mean sucker,” Raihan says, passing his pretzel to Leon before running on ahead. 

“Sorry. We didn’t mean to interrupt your date or anything, but things kind of got out of control,” Raihan’s teammate explains guiltily. He walks alongside Leon, pausing him just before they approach the field. “It’s a senior tradition, so if you could just keep this a secret, we’d all appreciate it.”

“It’s fine,” Leon assures, not really sure what the problem is in the first place. Whatever it is, it doesn’t sound _good_. The shouting hasn’t died down, and then there’s pounding and a sound like something being muzzled. When Leon finally steps onto the pitch, he chokes on his hot chocolate and gurgles out an, “oh my god.”

Half of the lacrosse team is corralling a reindeer — an honest to god, velvety-antlered, seven-foot-tall _reindeer_ — into a horse trailer while the other half tries to bribe it with carrots and apples. Leon doesn’t have to read the tricolor harness to know it says, ‘Kalos Preparatory Academy,’ in ornate lettering. Leon guesses he has a pretty good idea of exactly what happened by the dented door of the trailer barely hanging onto the trailer. 

Raihan chases after the reindeer while waving a carrot in its line of sight and cooing at it like one would talk to a stray cat. “C’mere, little caribou!”

“That thing isn’t little!” one teammate shouts, just as another calls out, “it’s a _reindeer,”_ and waves an apple next to the carrot Raihan’s shaking.

“Reindeer _are_ caribou,” Raihan squawks, just as the Kalos mascot starts chasing after them. Leon’s heart starts pounding as the chaser quickly becomes the chased, the reindeer stomping closer and closer on Raihan and his team.

“Hold this,” Leon says, shoving the hot chocolate and pretzel into Raihan’s teammate’s open hands. Then he hits the ground, chasing the reindeer chasing his boyfriend.

-

“Told you the Galar football team has nothing on Kalos’ rivalry compared to the lacrosse team,” Raihan says smugly, once the reindeer has calmed down. He leans against it as it hangs its head and nibbles on the assortment of fruits and vegetables piled in a heap. Raihan goes back to cooing at it like a puppy, and Leon feels his chest squeeze with adoration at his idiot of a boyfriend. “You’re not such a bad caribou once you start eating, huh?”

Leon pets it as well. Once calm, it’s actually quite the friendly creature. It even allowed some of them to ride it around the field, and it trots with the same air of arrogance all Kalos students seem to have. “Where will you take it?”

“We’ll lock it up overnight just to make sure it doesn’t run away, and then we’ll let it loose again. It’s the freshmen’s job to tip off the media in the morning. Then somebody from Kalos will pick it up once all the cameras are gone.” The reindeer snorts as though it can understand Raihan perfectly, and its tail swings back and forth. Raihan laughs at the crabby expression, patting its neck some more. “You’ll miss us, huh? Don’t worry, we’ll come save you from those nasty preps again next year!”

 _“‘Next year,’”_ Leon repeats, levelling an unamused glare at Raihan. 

“Well, it’s the seniors’ prank, so you don’t have to worry about helping me steal it for another two years.” Raihan shrugs. His smile is small and coy, almost like he’s asking for permission. “But yeah, we might have to help out again. — I mean, _I_ might have to help out again.”

Leon keeps his judgemental look fixed in place, and he doesn’t crack even when Raihan tries to weasel his way out of it by doing that adorable thing where he licks his right canine up and down. “Oh, so in two years, _then_ you’ll ask me to participate in a crime with you.”

“Yeah,” Raihan says cheekily, patting the reindeer’s shaggy mane. “Be gay, do crimes!”

-

On Thursday, Leon slides into Raihan’s passenger side, and Raihan growls, _“greaser.”_

 _“Soc,”_ Leon growls back.

They stare at each other before dissolving into wide-mouthed, full-bellied laughs. Leon squeezes Raihan’s hand and sighs, “I’m _so_ glad we never had a stupid rivalry like that.”

-

Raihan turns the radio from their usual playlist to the local news, cackling when a Kalos representative promises, “Kalos intends to persecute the offender or offenders to the fullest extent of the law,” and the local reporter summarizes, “for the third year in the row, Kalos Preparatory Academy is offering a three hundred dollar reward for any information related to his Homecoming crime.”

“I’m surprised your team doesn’t sell each other out for the reward,” Leon muses out loud. His team probably would, maybe even place the blame on Leon just to get out of it. 

Raihan looks at Leon like he’s said something horrifying. “That’s my _team_. I’d trust those guys with my life!”

-

Thursday’s theme is Blast from the Past, and half the school is dressed up as Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson. Of course, Raihan and Leon aren’t exempt from this, both dressed up to the nines in thrifted leather jackets and poindexter plaids. They’d fought all week about who’d get to be the greaser and who would be the soc, and eventually they took the matter to a Buzzfeed quiz. Turns out that Leon is 78% greaser and Raihan is 99% soc.

It’s a surprise to everybody but Leon how lovely Raihan looks in a solid polo and a v-neck tied around his shoulders by the sleeves. Raihan’s a nerd anyway, and the plaid and glasses look perfect on him. Leon sees the heads turn in the hallways and the small murmurs of, “wow, Raihan cleans up _nice.”_

He tells himself he’s just playing the part of the role, but Leon cups Raihan’s jaw and tugs him down for a kiss whenever he hears the whispers, smirking as the rumors kindle around them.

-

Leon spends most of the talent show assembly smiling down at their feet, kicking his Converse high tops against Raihan’s black and white Oxfords.

-

At lunch, the school climate committee holds a donut eating contest. Leon didn’t know it a month ago, but he knows now that the rainbow and chocolate sprinkles in those donuts aren’t halal. So it doesn’t come as a surprise when Raihan slinks to the football team’s table, taps Leon’s shoulder, and cocks his head toward the hall. Most of Leon’s team doesn’t notice, pounding their fists on the table as they cheer on the wide receiver eating three donuts at a time, but the freshman beside Leon claps him on the shoulder and whispers, “go get it, Leon.”

-

Leon’s under no impression that Raihan wants to do anything besides make out in the lockers, and a part of him wonders how they made it so long without sticking their tongues down each other’s throats. They practically skip to the lockers hand-in-hand, and when Raihan looks at the broken clock that’s three minutes slow above the locker room door, he smirks at Leon. “We got about fifteen minutes.”

“Fifteen minutes to discuss our _feelings?”_ Leon teases, but he’s the one pushing Raihan onto a changing bench. 

“Mhm,” Raihan teases back. He lets Leon push his shoulders down to the bench, his own hands playing with Leon’s belt loops and tugging him closer. They kiss deeply, but there’s no tongue — _yet_ — and the only sound is of Leon’s leather jacket squeaking against Raihan’s belt. “I’m _feeling_ really horny right now.”

“That’s my line,” Leon pouts. A dribble of spit breaks between them as he sits upright, frowning down with an expression unbefitting of a greaser. “I’m supposed to be the greaser! I’m a bad boy. Buzzfeed said so.”

“Sure, babe. A _real_ bad boy,” Raihan assures, pulling Leon down by the lapels of his leather jacket. All it takes is a hand sliding into his back pocket and Raihan’s tongue sliding over his molars, and Leon doesn’t even care about their roles anymore, bucking and grabbing and whining in unabashed abandon. 

Raihan tastes like lunchroom taquitos beneath all the cherry chapstick, and Leon giggles at the way Raihan’s chest inhales as deeply as he kisses. He feels a pinch through the hand slipped in his pocket, and Leon bucks against him, both of them whining out softly. He slips one of his arms up Raihan’s polo and smirks at the way Raihan rocks side-to-side on his back, his face flushed and pinched in pleasure. “Mm, more…”

Leon pushes a palm against Raihan’s chest to pin him in place, rolling his hips like he’s riding a bull machine. Raihan audibly groans, and Leon smirks down at him as Raihan tries to squirm. Leon shakes his jacket off, and he doesn’t care how gross it is that his chest hair or armpits or nipples peek through the thin, white fabric of his simple tee, because he sees the way Raihan’s eyes widen and his big palms cup all the places Leon’s feeling tingliest. 

Leon’s eyes flutter shut as his eyes roll back into his head and when he opens them, he notices— 

Somebody staring right at them. “Oh— S-Sorry, I—”

“We’re _busy!”_ Leon barks, glaring at the guy until he runs out of the room. Once the door slams behind him, Leon smirks down at Raihan. “Where were we?”

“O _kay,”_ Raihan admits while Leon bunches his hair to the side and pushes against him again, “I can definitely see the greaser now.”

-

The night before the Homecoming game is always bonfire night, and even though there are plenty of couples making out against trees in the dark, Leon’s gotten his fill of kisses already. He sits next to Raihan on a log, passing him a cup and sipping his own. 

“Does that have alcohol in it?” Raihan asks, sniffing the red Solo cup Leon presents to him.

“No,” Leon says and wraps both arms around Raihan’s waist. He holds back a laugh at Raihan acting as preppy as his clothes. “Just regular orange juice. It was harder to get a hold of than the stuff already mixed with something else.”

“Thanks.” Raihan smiles appreciatively at the cup before taking a gulp. “You can drink if you want.”

Leon thought about it already. It only took watching one of his defensive lineman hacking up his lunch, dinner, _and_ jungle juice before deciding maybe alcohol wasn’t for him. At least not right now. Besides, he wants to remain in top shape for tomorrow. “Hmm, nah. I just wanna hang out with you.”

They enjoy the relative silence, the random laugh or heavy breath drowned out in the crackles and snaps of the fire. Leon kicks the heels of his feet against the log they’re sitting on, breathing in the smell of burnt marshmallows, crackling wood, and pine tree sap. Raihan leans against Leon, and it’s easy for Leon to lean right back, zoning out his the flames of the fire dance in and out of focus.

Raihan starts playing with Leon’s wrist, rubbing his thumb over Leon’s pulse. “What color is your suit?”

Leon snaps out of his daze, blushing in embarrassment. “Sorry. What about my suit?” 

“What color is it,” Raihan repeats, less of a question this time. He presses his thumb against Leon’s vein, and Leon realizes how fast it’s beating. “So I can pick out a boutonniere that matches.”

“Oh.” Leon has to think about it, since he rented a proper tuxedo last year, and this year he plans on wearing the suit he hasn’t worn since his aunty’s wedding. “Mine is red. Yours?”

“Navy.” 

“Navy,” Leon echoes. It sounds nice. Raihan already looked amazing in his uniform, which was navy, and he wonders about the details of the suit. Would it be velvet? Patterned? Skinny? Slim? Tailored. Tailored would be best. Leon wonders about a matching vest piece and the kind of bowtie Raihan intends to wear with it. No matter what, he’d look amazing. That was about all Leon was sure of. 

After awhile, Raihan asks even more quietly, “are you ready for tomorrow?”

That. Leon has to really think about that one. He breathes in slowly and deeply, but sighs out in a short snort. He pulls Raihan’s hand into his lap and holds it there, tracing a fingertip up and down Raihan’s thumb all the way to his pinky. When he reaches the end, Raihan’s hand curls around his, and Leon pets their entwined hands. “Hmm, yeah.” 

Leon chances a look to Raihan, who’s just smiling down at their hands too, and Raihan shifts closer. After three days of mostly making out or thinking about making out, Leon knows pretty well how this next part goes. He tilts his cheek up to Raihan’s face, and the familiar touch of Raihan’s lips makes him smile. 

Not a second later, there’s something wetter, louder, and Leon’s face pinches like he’s swallowed a lemon, squealing out loud. Leon pushes Raihan off so quickly that some of the orange juice spills, and he pets the damp spot where Raihan pressed a raspberry against it. “What’s that for!?” 

“Good luck kiss,” Raihan jokes, sticking his tongue out. 

Leon frowns and holds Raihan at bay. He considers pushing Raihan off the log entirely, but Leon ends up pulling him closer, whispering, “good luck, huh? Then give me another.”

-

Leon shoots straight up on Friday morning, the smile already plastered on his mouth. He’s been waiting for School Pride day all week long, and at this point his excitement can’t be contained. The second he’s up, he runs down the hall to the bathroom he shares with Hop and finally lets out a breath, petting the navy and orange-striped jersey that’s been hanging in there since Sunday night. ‘Galar High School,’ is printed in the front and, ‘Kibana,’ on the back, the number 241 on both sides of the jersey. Leon’s glad Raihan’s not around to take a picture of his face right now, because Leon can tell it looks as gooey as he feels.

“I finally get to wear you today,” Leon whispers to the jersey. His eyes trace the accent stripes from the sleeves down to hem of the shorts, letting out a slow exhale all the while. Leon bites his lip, but it still doesn’t feel real. He’s really going to wear Raihan’s uniform to school. He’s really going to—

“Couldja take your boyfriend’s jersey to your own room to drool over it?” Hop whines, creaking the door open. “You’ve been fawning over it for ten minutes, and I _really_ gotta use the bathroom, Lee.”

-

(In the end, Leon takes the jersey to his room.)

-

It’s not silk, but Raihan’s jersey slips onto him like it. Leon can’t stop petting the lettering or marveling at himself in the mirror, posing and twirling and admiring the way Raihan’s jersey drapes on him from every angle.

“Oh, no,” Leon says to himself, realizing it’s going to be impossible to peel himself off Raihan today. Biting his lip and watching himself in the mirror, he slips a hand into the shorts’ elastic band and hopes Raihan won’t mind too much.

-

Leon waits with bated breath and endless nerves for Raihan to pull up to his house, and he runs out of the door the second he hears the familiar rubbing sound Raihan’s tires make when his truck parks in Leon’s driveway.

-

The second Leon pulls the seatbelt over his lap, his jaw drops. Seeing himself wearing Raihan’s jersey riled him up like it was the first time in his life he’d ever touched himself, but it’s _nothing_ compared to seeing Raihan wearing _his_ football uniform. It fits a little awkwardly without the proper padding, but in Leon’s view Raihan wears it _perfectly_.

“I want you,” Leon blurts out in a hollow, needy voice. 

“Th-That’s a little fast,” Raihan says, uncharacteristically flustered. The jersey is a good look on him, and even better with a shy expression like that. “Not even a, ‘hello’? ‘Good morning’? ‘You look nice, Raihan’?”

“Sorry. You just—” Leon actually whines. “Raihan. You look— **_so_** good.”

It’s silent except for the quiet purr of the engine, and they awkwardly eye each other until Leon looks away with a gulp. “I’m sorry. You’re right, that was really quick. I’ll try not to—”

“It’s alright. I’m also— I mean, I get it,” Raihan tries to reassure. He laughs and reaches over to grab Leon’s hand and drag it onto the console. He offers an inch, and Leon takes a yard, sliding his hand into Raihan’s lap and squeezing his thigh. 

“So wearing your uniform does it for you, huh?” Raihan laughs then fakes a polite cough, pushing Leon’s hand closer to his knee. “Good to know.”

-

By the time they make it into the parking lot, Leon’s hand is back on Raihan’s thigh, sliding between his hip and dangerous territory. Leon sucks in a breath, batting his biggest puppy eyes. “We don’t _really_ have to go in today, do we?”

“You know they’re going to crown you Homecoming King, right?” So Raihan says, but he doesn’t make any effort to remove Leon’s hand, where it’s in the middle of massaging the inside of Raihan’s leg. It might just be Leon, but it almost seems like Raihan pushes his hips into Leon’s hand a little bit.

“They only crown seniors Homecoming King,” Leon reminds, picking his words carefully and slowly, “so there’s really nothing we’ll miss if we skip.”

“We’ll see about that,” Raihan says, plucking Leon’s hand off with a reluctant sigh. He leans over the console and pecks his boyfriend on the cheek. “C’mon, champ. Let’s go get that crown.”

-

“Just for the record,” Raihan whispers into his ear, just as the first period bell rings, “seeing you in _my_ uniform does it for me, too.”

-

It’s all Leon can think about during Texts and Comp. Piers takes one look at Raihan’s jersey, shakes his head at his lovey dovey daze, and says, “ew.”

-

Until the cheerful voice of the intercom announces, “it’s that time, Galar High! The votes are in, and we’ll be crowning our Homecoming court in the auditorium in exactly _one hour!_ So get ready to cheer on your favorite candidate. For Homecoming Queen, the nominations are…”

There’s so many other, more interesting things to think about than who’s going to be Homecoming Queen. For example, what Raihan would look like on his knees and in between Leon’s thighs. Leon tunes out the drawl of names until the room breaks into an uproar of clapping and hollering. Piers shakes Leon by the shoulder until he snaps out of his daze. “That’s _you_ , Leon!”

“O-Oh?” Leon blurts, looking around the room like he’s been pranked as everybody smiles and cheers him on.

“I voted for you, too,” Piers says in the same way somebody might say they’re about to get a root canal. 

-

After the announcement, Leon’s pushed out of the room and dragged to the auditorium by a student climate committee representative. For the next hour, he and the small group of other candidates are prepped on the obligations of Homecoming court representatives, for whoever wins. The representative reads off a script, turning pages as she reads through it. “To determine the winner, last year’s Homecoming court will interview the Homecoming Queen and King candidates in a group, like on the Dating Game. Since you’ll be interviewed live in front of the whole school, remember that whatever you say needs to adhere to school policy. There are several things that are not allowed to be said, such as, but not limited to—” 

“Wait, I’m sorry. There must be a mistake. I didn’t even submit anything to _be_ Homecoming King,” Leon starts to reason, but the committee member shakes her head, cutting him off by shoving a manila file stuffed with paperwork right in his face.

“It’s all here. Your boyfriend hand delivered it directly to me,” she says, already beginning to list the restricted topics. Leon stares at the bundle of applications in Raihan’s handwriting and the accompanying endorsements from teachers and friends explaining why Leon would be the perfect Homecoming King. The earliest nomination form in the packet is dated over two months ago. Leon hugs the folder to his chest, already feeling like a winner.

-

In the end, Leon says about five things that are definitely against school policy, including saying, “my boyfriend,” after being asked, “what will you do after the Homecoming Dance on Saturday?” 

It’s not exactly a shock when he doesn’t win the title, but he’s already won Raihan’s heart. Who needs to be Homecoming King, anyway?

-

Leon makes an executive decision after the Homecoming court is crowned to skip class the rest of the day, dragging Raihan beneath the bleachers as soon as humanly possible. There’s no penetration or sucking, but Raihan drops his pants and Leon sees firsthand how Raihan’s eyes roll into his skull the moment he cums. They both tuck themselves back into their jerseys and hold hands, cuddling and talking about everything and nothing until it’s time for the parade. 

Leon’s old school treated Homecoming like a mini formal, all elegant dinners and white collar events, and he’s thoroughly unprepared for all the screaming school pride as all of Galar High marches from the parking lot, down the freeway, and back. Nessa waves to them from her perch on the float where the former and newly appointed Homecoming court sits, and Leon’s glad, in a way, that he didn’t win. There’s nowhere else he’d rather be than than by Raihan’s side, kissing the dimpled cheek that’s sporting a temporary tattoo of their school logo.

-

“Okay,” Leon breathes heavily, saying it for the third time out loud, _“Okay_. I have to go now.”

“Not yet,” Raihan tries to insist, but Leon’s already ten minutes late for his game’s warm-up. Leon squirms out of Raihan’s lap, which is regrettably no longer sporting Leon’s jersey, and dodges the grabby hands that have held him hostage for the past thirty minutes.

“Let me go, so I can win this game,” Leon chastises. As he straightens his shoulder pads and flattens the wrinkles in his uniform, he watches Raihan watch him, Raihan’s eyes darkening and sharpening with each passing second. There’s an appreciative hum, and Leon finally faces him, fitting his helmet into place.

Raihan sits up and grabs Leon by the facemask. “Go win, babe,” Raihan whispers, kissing Leon’s helmet.

-

Leon runs onto the secondary field to the sound of catcalling and wolf whistles, but his team doesn’t squirm away when he shoulder checks them for it. For the first time, it feels like they’re laughing with him instead of at him, clapping him and pushing him into warm-up formation.

-

They wait in the stadium wings for the announcer to call them by name, but the walls quake as the marching band finishes their pregame routine. Leon bounces on his heels, his heart thumping equally from the vibrations of the crowd’s cheering and his own anticipation. The visiting team, Unova, gets to enter the field first, Galar’s band playing the Imperial March to the point of drowning out the rival band.

When they finally begin to run onto the field, each of them hears an outcry of their name from Galar’s stands. Leon walks toward his team slowly, trying to wave at each of his friends in the crowd. There’s a small section where the lacrosse team is holding up one long banner that has his name on it, but Raihan’s not seated with them. He’s not with Leon’s classmates either, who are seated closer than last time and shouting his name out of megaphones. His mom and Hop are in the first row, waving around the same scarves as last time, only this time Raihan and his parents are right there, clapping and cheering him on beside his family. 

It feels like he’s walking on air as he approaches his team. He looks at them one by one, seeing trust and conviction that wasn’t there before. 

“We’re going to win this thing,” he promises, just before directing everybody into a huddle.

-

Unova doesn’t hold anything back, and apparently they’ve learned from studying the Kalos match, because the defensive line completely overwhelms Leon as soon as the ball is hiked. Leon doesn’t have a chance to throw the ball before he’s tackled, and a clamor of cheers and boos shakes the astroturf the moment he falls. 

“You okay?” his offensive captain asks, offering a hand to haul Leon up. 

“Yeah,” Leon says, a bit shell-shocked. His teammates look at him crazy, because he can’t stop smiling. The quiver in his voice is one of excitement, not fear. “I can’t _wait_ to take these guys down.”

-

“It’s fine,” Leon tries to assure at halftime. “We can’t give up now!” 

“We’re down twenty to twelve,” one of the freshmen players complains. 

Leon puffs his chest out and puts both hands on his hips, trying to look the part of a hero ready to make a comeback. “We got this! _Trust me.”_

The first time Leon asked that, his team had turned their backs on him. This time, they nod, everybody pushing their hands in for a final hurrah before getting into line.

-

Every time Galar pushes, Unova pulls. Unova presses steadily, and Galar meets them tic for tac. Unova is a flashy team, and once Unova arrogantly begins to show off at the moment they feel they have the upper hand, Leon is ready. In the next play, Galar pushes through Unova’s offensive line and a fumble results in their ball. It’s a quick pass to a wide receiver beyond their notice, and just like with the Kalos game, the stadium goes silent as Galar runs toward the end zone. 

It may not be Leon scoring the touchdown this time, but he strikes his signature pose all the same, the crowd roaring loud enough to make gravity feel unreal for a moment. 

-

Galar pushes for a two-point power play to tie the score, and once they break through Unova’s defensive line, they break Unova’s spirit too. Leon calls relentlessly aggressive plays, leading the team to a two-touchdown lead. In the last call of the game, Leon runs the ball to the endzone himself. His team clears a pathway for him this time, Leon dodging tackle after tackle from behind the safety of his team. He sprints into the endzone, pointing to where his family and Raihan are seated just before striking his pose for a final time. He shouts out at his victory louder than anybody else in the stadium, voice raw and loud above the crowd.

-

After shaking the hands of every player on the opposing team, Leon makes for the second locker room, but his team pushes him into the main locker room just like they did the first time they awkwardly maneuvered him to their lunch table. 

“We cleared a locker just for you,” they say, and for a single moment, Leon feels a weight lift in his chest and he smiles so hard that it hurts. 

This is what he’s wanted since the start, he realizes, and when his smile starts to drop, he wonders why it doesn’t feel as good as he expected it to be. He thinks of Raihan and his sharp eyes and sharp teeth in the shower stalls and the encouraging words of, ‘you got this,’ he got from the _golf team_ and the way the other teams laugh and joke around in that decrepit locker room he’s come to think of as a second home. 

“Thanks, but my stuff is in _my_ locker,” Leon says, skipping out with a wave.

-

There’s nobody waiting outside of his locker room this time, and Leon’s only a little bit disappointed Raihan’s not already waiting for him. The wings must be cut off from the crowd, which is somewhat reasonable, given that after matches, Leon has walked in on a few girls who have thrown themselves at him and professed that they can be the one to turn him straight. He showers and changes quickly, running back to the football team’s lockers, where a small army is pushing and cheering. 

Leon scans the crowd for Raihan, but he only sees their center kissing his cheerleader girlfriend, who’s already decked out in his letterman jacket, and the running back lifting his girlfriend bridal style as she locks both arms around his shoulders. The jealousy only lasts a moment until Leon spies Raihan pushing his way to the front of the crowd, carrying a victory bouquet that’s nearly as big as his upper body. Leon walks right up to him, accepting the flowers and leaning up for a kiss. 

Coach bumps Leon to the side and pushes Raihan back, growling a tight, “this section is family only.”

“That’s my _boyfriend,”_ Leon growls right back, ready to fight, but surprisingly, it’s the senior linebacker who steps between them.

“It’s not really fair if our girlfriends get to hang around but Leon’s boyfriend doesn’t,” the defensive captain concedes, reluctantly. He and Coach hold a stare off until Coach hisses and storms back onto the field. His offensive captain’s shoulders sag, and he smiles weakly over his shoulder. “You’ve earned it, Leon.”

It’s pathetic, as far as extended olive branches go, but Leon pushes himself into Raihan’s arms, kissing his boyfriend in front of his team like he’s dreamed of doing for the past three-and-a-half months.

-

Raihan’s the first one to lift him, and Leon screams with uninhibited joy as he’s pushed into the air and carried away. He feels like King of the World as he’s paraded back onto the field to receive the Homecoming trophy, the stadium shaking all around him.

-

Saturday, oh Saturday. Leon’s not ready for Saturday. He didn’t fall asleep until nearly three, exchanging soft, tired kisses with Raihan in his special spot beneath the stars in the back of his truck, and he wakes up at noon with bags beneath his eyes. His entire body is sore from last night’s game, and he feels too exhausted to roll out of bed, but Hell if he’s gonna miss the Homecoming dance with his _date_. 

He smacks one tired arm across his bed and pulls the ticket off his nightstand. He holds it up, blinking blearily up at it like the words on it might change the moment he looks away. It doesn’t feel real in his hands, and he hugs it to his chest with a tired, giddy laugh.

-

He and Raihan made a promise last night not to see each other until the dance, and Leon passes the next few hours in a daze, part exhaustion and part longing. His mom is the one to snap him out of it, pushing him into the bathroom and telling him to get showered and fresh while she irons his suit. 

It still doesn’t feel real; in a few hours, he’s going on an honest-to-god, intentional _date_ with Raihan. Not just hanging out or a fun little meet-up at school. It’s going to be dinner and holding hands and walking into the dance as a couple. As Leon washes the grime and Raihan’s kisses out of his hair, he can’t help but think of how _lucky_ he is.

-

His mom knocks on the door twice to remind him to use the body scrub she put in there for him, and his skin feels fresh and raw by the time he steps out of the steaming bathroom. The second he’s out, his mom presses and pulls at his arms and hair, drying him off and poking at him.

“You’re such a shameless boy,” she tsks, tugging the collar of the maroon suit his mom made him get tailored when he turned thirteen. It’s a tight fit and he used to hate the thing, but he’s thankful for it now as she tugs it cover up the hickey on his neck. He sucks in a breath as she maneuvers him around, warning, “if you move too fast, you can ruin something good. You need to be more careful with that boy.”

When she finally seems pleased with poking and prodding his body and pulling at his hair, she takes a step back and exhales. Leon sees her eyes welling up, and it makes him tear up too. His mom pulls him into a bone-crushing hug, whispering into his ear, “I’m _so_ proud of you.”

-

The dance is at seven, so it only makes sense that Raihan and his family show up at five. Leon’s barely started waking up when the knock on the door comes, and Hop yells, “I got it!” before anybody can make a break for the door.

“Hello,” Leon hears Raihan’s dad say first, followed by twin greetings from Raihan and his mom. 

“Lee! Your boyfriend is here!” Hop screams, and Leon runs to the door just in time to see Raihan’s father’s face pinch disagreeably. 

The first thing he notices is that Raihan’s family is _way_ overdressed. They look as if they’re going to the dance too, his father dressed in a fawn suit and his mom in an elegant dress that matches her husband’s in color and Raihan’s in embroidery. The second thing he notices is the way Raihan’s mom pets his father’s arm in open consolation, like this is a disagreement they’ve fought over before. The last thing he notices, and what he can’t take his eyes away from, is Raihan’s face and the way it lights up the moment he sees Leon. 

_“Wow. Babe,”_ Raihan breathes, “you look great!”

Leon blushes and mutters a, “you, too,” while his stomach does an acrobatic trip on the inside. Raihan’s wearing head-to-toe navy, a tailored three-piece suit with golden embroidery on the right lapel and sleeve, and it really makes his skin pop. Without his usual headband, Raihan’s eyes are bright and gorgeous, and Leon can’t stop smiling back at Raihan in open adoration. 

Raihan’s father clears his throat quietly, and Leon remembers himself. It’s Leon’s first time meeting Raihan’s father, and he can’t help but feel he’s already off to a bad start.

“Hello, Mr. Kibana. I’m Leon. This is my younger brother, Hop,” Leon says, a little too formally. Hop peeps a hello and offers his hand, which Raihan’s dad shakes after a few seconds of staring. 

“We’re here to take pictures,” Raihan’s mom says, shamelessly pushing Raihan into Leon. 

Before things can get any more awkward, Leon’s mom appears from behind him and immediately launches into introductions with Raihan’s family. Raihan steps aside, still staring at Leon, and Leon shifts uncomfortably. “Yes?”

“Nothing. You just—” It’s rare for Raihan to stumble on words, but his lips scrunch back and forth and Leon can see the way he’s searching for the right thing to say. “You look good,” he finishes lamely. He grins sheepishly at Leon, and Leon smiles back with the same shyness.

“Thanks,” Leon says sincerely. He takes a closer look at Raihan’s lapel and uses it as an excuse to pet his chest and look at the embroidery. “This is really nice.”

“Boutonnieres!” Leon’s mom singsongs not a moment later, clapping. “Pictures and boutonnieres!”

The next thirty minutes are spent in various combinations of couples and family arrangements and acting as life-size Ken dolls to be posed and moved into place as all three parents take pictures on their phones. Raihan passes his phone to Hop, who takes his job as photographer way too seriously, moving around the room and getting on top of furniture or beneath them for angles. Raihan’s dad actually has a proper camera with a lens and everything, and every now and then he says something in Arabic that has Raihan rolling his eyes, huffing, and repositioning himself tighter against Leon. 

When it’s finally time for the boutonnieres, Hop brings Leon’s out from where he’d kept it in the fridge, and Raihan’s mom presents Raihan’s from out of her purse. Leon eyes the boutonniere Raihan got for him, a lone amaryllis trumpet twined in lavender and edelweiss. Leon blushes as Raihan’s shaky hands fix the pin to his chest off-center and lopsided, and when it’s Leon’s turn, he accidentally stabs Raihan twice. There’s a tiny blood scare, but nothing that a few bandaids can’t handle, and eventually the white camellia boutonniere sits perfectly on top of the golden embroidery. 

Once they’ve been told to, “hold that pose for just _one more_ minute!” one too many times to trust, Raihan starts inching toward the door.

“Well, we have to go _right now,_ or we’ll miss our dinner reservation,” Raihan says, pointedly directing the emphasis at his parents. Before he can grab Leon’s hand, his dad beats him to the punch, pulling Raihan by the elbow to a corner in the room and giving him what seems like a stern lecture in Arabic.

“Is everything alright?” Leon asks, worried that maybe Raihan’s dad is telling him that Leon is completely wrong for him.

“He’s just reminding Raihan to be a good man,” Raihan’s mom says playfully, hiding a laugh behind her hand, “among other things.”

Raihan’s dad releases him a moment later, and Leon’s surprised when he’s also grabbed by the elbow and ushered to a different room. It’s a little scary to be confronted by his boyfriend’s father, and he swallows thickly, waiting for a lecture of his own.

Leon watches as the man’s lips thin out and twitch in the same way he’s seen Raihan’s move before, and Leon waits for what he expects to be the biggest threat in his life he’ll ever receive. After some moments of thought, Raihan’s dad takes a breath and squeezes both of Leon’s shoulders.

“Raihan is my only child. He is my pride and joy. Everything I have done, I have done for the sake of my son. My son treasures you. I…do not understand my son’s love for other men,” he confesses wearily, “but I love my son. Do not break his heart.”

Raihan’s dad walks out of the room as quickly as he came, leaving Leon speechless. He’s pretty sure that counts as a blessing, and he replays it in his head until Raihan peeks through the door and tiptoes in.

“You okay?” Raihan asks worriedly. His eyes narrow and he starts to look Leon all over, inspecting Leon’s arms and looking around his back as though he expects to find a mark there. “My dad didn’t say anything too weird, did he?”

“Nah,” he says, taking Raihan’s hand with an easy smile. “Let’s go.”

-

Later, during dinner, Raihan uploads a picture of them exchanging boutonnieres to his Insta. It’s not one of the cute ones where they’re smiling at each other or awkwardly shaking. No, Raihan chooses one of the mid-screaming pictures where Leon’s stabbing the sharp end right into Raihan’s chest and a caption that says, _‘this guy is killing me!’_

Leon only knows because Sonia sends him in the text in the middle of dinner telling him to be more careful. _‘He needs to be alive if you’re ever going to introduce us!’_ her text reads.

“Don’t be tarnishing my good reputation online,” Leon teases, playfully kicking Raihan beneath the table. 

Raihan kicks back, smirking as he traps Leon’s ankles between his legs. “Then stop trying to kill me!”

-

They pull into the parking lot at seven o’ clock sharp, but neither of them make a move when Raihan kills the engine. They both watch each other’s reflection in the windshield glass, waiting for the other to make a move.

“Um, so I want to ask you something. And we totally don’t have to,” Raihan eventually says, rearranging himself in his seat to face Leon. Leon turns to him as well, biting his lip as he waits for Raihan to stop making faces and ask whatever it is already. “I was thinking. The fancy jackets are nice and all, but it’s not _us.”_

“What do you mean?” Leon asks. 

Raihan holds and releases his breath in uneven patterns, and when he finally moves, it’s to shuffle around in his backseat. He pulls out his varsity jacket, folded into a neat square, and drops it on Leon’s lap. “We might get kicked out for it, but I want you to wear my jacket.”

Leon’s eyes widen as he pets Raihan’s number. With a grin, he pulls out the overnight duffel he brought, fishes around in it while Raihan rambles on and on about how it’s Leon’s choice to wear his jacket or not, and he tosses his letterman square in Raihan’s face. Hop had told him to leave it out, but Leon packed it _just in case_ , hoping that Raihan would agree to wear it for exactly the same reasons Raihan’s asking Leon to wear his. “I’m the quarterback. They _can’t_ kick me out!” 

-

On the steps to the auditorium and just outside the double doors they used to meet by, they clip their boutonnieres on each other again, this time perfectly beside the Galar High logos sitting above their hearts. 

-

“Enjoy,” the student committee member working the ticket booth mumbles, taking both tickets out of their ready hands. It’s only as he stamps their wrists so they can re-enter if they want that he looks up, eyes wide when he sees the varsity jackets and boutonnieres. “Oh… Good game, Leon.”

Just like that, they’re ushered in, and both of them sigh relief. 

-

Leon went to his Homecoming dance last year, but this one is _magical_. There’s no jungle juice in the punch or sleazy couple grinding too hard, but there is a lot of bad dancing and good laughter. Raihan makes them take some tacky selfies in the do-it-yourself photo booth in the corner, and Leon nearly knocks out a poor senior from dancing so hard. By the drinks, Milo is selling some of the garden club’s flowers for charity, and Raihan buys a rose just to stick in his mouth and dip Leon on the dance floor.

About an hour into the dance, Nessa weaves between them and teaches them both some proper moves. At the end of a song, she gives Raihan a giant hug and whispers, “I’m happy for you,” before moving to a different group. 

As they move closer to the stage and deeper into the crowd, Leon spies Gordie dancing with several girls, and a few of his teammates, who nod in acknowledgement. Leon doesn’t see Piers, but Piers already told him that everything about Homecoming was stupid. Raihan’s team dances with them in a group before they go their separate ways, one of them offering Raihan and Leon parting fistbumps and an open invitation to meet at the local hotel for an after party.

It’s deep into the night when the first slow dance plays, and Leon’s breath hitches as Raihan’s hands slide down his ribs and settle on his hips. Leon leans into him, instinctively tucking his face beneath Raihan’s chin and breathing against Raihan’s neck. It’s kind of wonderful to sway with his boyfriend in the dim lighting of the auditorium, closing his eyes and focusing only on the strong beat of Raihan’s heart and smell or Raihan’s aftershave. 

-

The couples start to filter out around ten, but Raihan and Leon remain tangled around each other, a tired, leaning mess of lazy smiles and forehead nuzzles. The rest of the rotation is just soft pop and slow songs anyway, which only requires swaying against each other. 

“I don’t want to let go,” Leon whispers.

Raihan bumps his forehead against Leon’s, whispering against his lips, “then don’t.”

-

At ten-thirty, they finally toss in the towel and sleepily sag out of the dance. For the third time in a week, Raihan drives them out to his spot, but they’re too tired to fix up the back with anything more than some haphazardly tossed pillows. 

They lay down with Leon’s duffel propped behind their heads and cuddle against each other for warmth. The stars are bright enough that Leon could look at Raihan’s pretty face all night if he wanted, but his eyes fall shut as they trade quiet, closed-lipped kisses back and forth. 

“When’d you figure it out?” Raihan asks between kisses.

“Figure out what?” Leon asks, stealing a few between his words.

Raihan kisses him, kisses him, kisses him, and then stops, like it’s a hassle to stop kissing Leon and actually has to will himself to stop. He takes a deep breath. “That we’re dating.”

“Oh. Um.” Leon dips his chin toward his chest, trying to hide his blushing face. “Recently.”

If Raihan judges him for it, it doesn’t come out in his voice. He pets Leon’s back, one of his hands playing with the tips of Leon’s hair. “Oh, okay.”

Just for good measure, Leon presses his face into Raihan’s neck. “You never really asked me out or made a move. You should have said something.”

“I thought you knew,” Raihan says gently. “I mean, we’ve pretty much been going out for months now.” 

Leon’s too tired to have this conversation seriously, but that comment warrants a proper response. Leon sits up and frowns. “Really? Since when?”

“Well, I count it from that time I said your cheeks were cute when you smile and you giggled about it!” Raihan laughs. He taps Leon’s nose teasingly, and it does funny things to Leon’s insides. 

“A smile isn’t—” 

“We’ve been checking each other out in the lockers since we met,” Raihan points out. He’s completely relaxed as he lazily explains, “we don’t even wear towels in front of each other anymore.” 

“That is true, but in sports…” 

Now Raihan sits up, eyes narrowing in on Leon. “We wore each other’s lettermans in front of the whole school.” 

Ah. That is very, very true. Leon had thought it was just their closeness, but in retrospect... Leon starts scratching his chin. “Okay. You have a point.”

“Doesn’t matter as long as you figured it out.” With a laugh, Raihan scoops him into his arms and pulls them down again. 

Leon lets his head roll to the side, and notices, really notices, how Raihan’s eyes reflect all the starlight and their constellations. He smiles lazily, petting his boyfriend’s chin. It’d be so easy to ask Raihan to pump the air mattress so they can fool around for a bit, but he doesn’t want to disturb this perfect moment. Leon wishes he could reach out and capture the way Raihan smiles at him in his hand, as something he can hold and carry around with him forever. Since that’s not possible, he does his best to commit the image to memory. When Leon remembers his time in high school, _this_ is what he wants to remember.

**Author's Note:**

> Yesterday evening marked an important moment in sports history for LGBTQ players and fans, as Leon Dande was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. Dande’s induction follows an impressive fifteen-season career as quarterback for the Wyndon Swords and Shields. With a powerful speech calling for national sports leagues across America to be a place for inclusion of all sexualities and genders, Dande recounted his own struggles as a gay man navigating the NFL. In addition to attendance by his family, Dande accepted his induction in the company of his husband, professional lacrosse player for the Hammerlocke Dragons, and high school sweetheart, Raihan Kibana. The couple declined to comment on their future plans, stating that they have all the time in the world to figure it out.


End file.
